Kerala stood 13th among States and 17th overall in the percentage of women electors who cast their votes in the 18th Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, reveals a detailed statistical report released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday.
Of the 1,43,36,133 women electors for the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala, 1,03,02,515 (excluding postal votes), or 71.86%, queued up at the polling booths to exercise their franchise.
A perusal of the data on ‘Participation of Women Electors in Poll’ shows that the Union Territory of Lakshadweep recorded the highest women turnout (85.46%) overall, while Assam topped the list among States with 81.71%. States with better women voter turnout also include Andhra Pradesh (80.3%), Himachal Pradesh (72.55%), and West Bengal (80.16%).
Interestingly, women constituted 51.56% of the electorate in Kerala, the highest at the national level after the Union Territory of Puducherry (53.03%). Of the 2.78 crore electorate in Kerala (general + NRI + service) at the time, over 1.43 crore were women. Also, the votes polled by women accounted for 52.09% of the total votes polled in the State.
Kerala recorded an overall total voter turnout of 72.04%, according to the ECI data. The Lok Sabha polls were held in Kerala in the second phase on April 26. That said, the women voter turnout in Kerala was above the national average of 65.78% for the 18th Lok Sabha polls.
Of the 25 women contestants in Kerala, including 23 in the general category and two in the SC, 18 forfeited their deposits.
Turnout among NRI voters
In the case of overseas (NRI) electors, Kerala had topped the national list with 89,839 electors, including 83,765 men and 6,065 women. However, of this, only 2,670 (2,399 men and 271 women) cast their votes. This turnout, nevertheless, was the highest in the country. Under the present system, an overseas elector is not issued an electoral photo identity card (EPIC), but is allowed to vote in person at the polling station on production of his/her passport.
Published – December 27, 2024 06:31 pm IST