If the overall voter turnout in the four phases of the Lok Sabha elections has been higher than in 2014, there is one more reason to cheer. Women voters have outnumbered men in several States and Union Territories, according to phase-wise data released by the Election Commission.
More than 20.31 crore women voted as against a little above 21.5 crore men. The poll percentages in the four phases were 69.5, 69.44, 68.40 and 65.51.
The first phase was conducted in 91 constituencies across 18 States and two Union Territories on April 11. In nine States, there was a higher women turnout. The highest of 52.13% was recorded in Meghalaya where there was a jump of almost 2.5% in the overall participation (71.32%) compared with the 2014 election.
Arunachal Pradesh stood second with 52.05% of the polling with a slight improvement in the overall electoral participation (77.38%) in comparison with the previous elections. Higher women turnout was also noted in Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Odisha, Lakshadweep, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
More than 53% of the people who voted in Manipur and Puducherry during the second phase on April 18 were women, while the figure was 50.66% in Tamil Nadu. The turnout in Manipur improved by about 6% but there was a decline of 0.77% in Puducherry and 1.65% in Tamil Nadu.
The third phase on April 23 also saw a significant jump, the highest — 52.42% of polling — reported from Daman & Diu, followed by 52.24% in Kerala. In Bihar, Goa and West Bengal also, the turnout was higher than that of men. While there was an increase in the overall voting, 1.12% in Bihar and 3.65% in Kerala, it came down by about 6% in Daman & Diu, 1.88% in Goa and 0.59% in West Bengal.
On April 29, in the fourth round covering 71 parliamentary constituencies across nine States and a part of the Anantnag seat in Jammu & Kashmir, a higher women turnout was reported only in Bihar, which saw 1.73% jump in the overall voting compared to the 2014 polls.
