The size of the electorate of the Union Territory of Puducherry now stands at 9,54,062 following the net addition of 12,195 voters during the special summary revision of photo electoral rolls.
The special revision drive had been carried out on the instruction of the Election Commission with January 1, 2018 as qualifying date, from September 15 to December 15.
As per the final electoral roll published on Tuesday, there are 5,02,419 women voters against 4,51,557 men and 86 third gender electors across the 30 constituencies in the Union Territory.
Historically too, women voters have not only outnumbered men but their rates of participation in the democratic process have been higher as well. For instance, in the 2016 Assembly elections, 4,22,427 women (85%) cast their votes against 3,68,981 men (82.46 per cent).
During the special drive, 20,840 claims were received for inclusion whereas only 18,204 applications were accepted; 7,034 Form-8 (corrections) and 2,739 Form-8-A (transposition) applications were received and disposed of. The electoral office also admitted 4,090 of the 4,112 the claims received for deletion. In all, 1,919 deletions were carried out suo motu and on door-to-door verification by Booth Level Officers.
Put on display
According to a press note from V. Candavelou, Chief Electoral Officer, the final electoral rolls will be displayed at all polling stations and at the office of the Electoral Registration Officers/Assistant EROs for public inspection for seven days from January 10 (excluding public holidays).
The voter ID for enrolled voters of 20 years and above will be issued at the polling stations from Monday.
Voter ID cards for electors in the 18-19 age group will be issued on National Voters’ Day celebrations falling on January 25 at all polling stations.
In a break-up of the elector data, the highest number of electors in the Puducherry region are in Ozhukarai (38,848) followed by Villianur (38,690) and Ariyankuppam (37,005).
The skinniest constituencies by voter numbers are Orleanpet (23,933), Raj BHavan (25,984) and Uppalam (27,062).
Among the five constituencies in the Karaikal region, the highest number of voters are in Karaikal North (33,703). The electorate in the enclaves of Mahe and Yanam is 30,650 and 36863 respectively.
