CHENNAI: The polling percentage in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha elections stands at 69.72%, Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said on Sunday. Since the postal votes are yet to be included, there may be a very minimal variation in decimal points.
Of the total 6.23 crore voters in Tamil Nadu, 4.35 crore have exercised their franchise. Although women voters outnumbered men, in terms of turnout it was more or less proportional compared to the number of registered voters, with the difference only marginal. Of the 3.17 crore female voters, 2.22 crore (69.85%) cast their vote; while out of 3.06 crore male voters, 2.13 crore (69.58%) exercised their franchise. The data shows, out of the total registered voters, 95.6 lakh women and 93 lakh men have not cast their vote.
According to the data, Dharmapuri constituency polled the highest with 81.2% turnout and the Chennai Central constituency polled the lowest at 53.96%. There are 23 Lok Sabha constituencies which polled 70% and above, while 14 constituencies polled between 60-70%. Only two constituencies polled below 60% (Chennai South and Chennai Central).
When asked about the possible reasons for Tamil Nadu’s inability to break its own voter turnout of 76.56% in the 1967 Lok Sabha elections, veteran journalist Tharasu Shyam said, “The Election Commission is providing ample opportunities for eligible people to enrol themselves as voters. Somehow, a sizeable percentage of voters fail to turn up for polling. It could be due to apathy on the part of the voters, the lack of belief in politicians as a whole, lack of awareness about the impact of the vote, etc.”
Shyam said one of the ways to set this right is by making voting mandatory for all citizens, as many countries have done it. One striking trend is that voter apathy is more prevalent in urban and semi-urban areas.
“One could see this in the voting pattern. In Lok Sabha constituencies which constitute both rural and urban Assembly segments, the voter turnout is fairly good in rural areas while it is not so in the Assembly segment located in urban areas,” he pointed out.
While blaming voter apathy, Shyam said we should also blame the apathy of political parties in this regard. “They should involve themselves in enrolling voters in a full-fledged manner because they have the wherewithal at the grassroots level to do it.”
Senior journalist T Sigamani is of the view that voter apathy is the primary reason for poor polling percentages. “Voter turnout coming down is not a good sign for democracy because, in a way, it indicates that a section of the people are losing their faith in democracy. Political leaders made whirlwind campaigns for the Lok Sabha elections. As such, we can’t say there is no awareness about the elections and the importance of voting. It is the sheer apathy of the voters. Political parties and ECI should work together to ensure maximum voter turnout.”