BENGALURU: More number of women than men voted in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in the state that was held for 14 constituencies on April 26.
Though it is a marginal jump, psephologists and election officials say that the trend of increase in women voters has continued, showing that they are deciding for themselves and their family.
As per the latest statistics shared by the Election Commission of India, the male voting percentage was 69.48, while that of females 69.65. A total of 1,00,16,921 males voted as against 1,00,20,796 females, a difference of 3,875 voters.
Also, more women voted in all the four constituencies of Bangalore - North, Central, South and Rural -- and Dakshina Kannada.
During the 2019 polls, the male percentage was marginally higher than females. It was 69.55% for males and 67.65% for females. In 2014, the male to female voting percentage was 68.59 and 65.79, respectively.
Well-known political analyst Sandeep Shastry said the trend of inreasing women voters is an extension of their empowerment. He explained that women vote in a different way compared to men. Studies have shown that they are now not influenced by men, they have greater awareness and they are deciding for the welfare of themselves and their families.
The empowerment of the girl child, improved education and increased awareness have led to a rise in women voter turnout. He also pointed out that in the last elections, the women turnout was more in seven states.
As per ECI data, in Phase-1 and Phase-2 of Lok Sabha polls, the states and union territories where larger number of women turned up to vote are: Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshwadeep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Puduherry, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Kerala and Karnataka.
A senior election official said, “During our interaction with people on increasing voter awareness, we learnt that women were more keen to know details and vote as compared to men. Though the enrolment of men was more than women for Phase-2, the turnout of females was more. In Phase-3, the women voters are more than males. We will wait and see if the women turnout will he higher than men here too.”
Phase-3: Home voting
Under Phase-3 of polling for Lok Sabha elections, a total of 32,458 people voted from home, which was 95.16% of the total list of 34,110 voters. This is less than the voter turnout for Phase-2 under the Vote From Home (VFH) option, where 46,810 (96.30%) voted, of the total 48,609 voters registered.
As per data from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, under Phase-3, 21,892 (94.31%) voters in the age group of 85 and above cast their votes at their home out of 23,213 voters approved under the option. Similarly, 10,566 (96.96%) people with disabilities (PwD) cast their votes at their home out of 10,897 voters approved.