Women electors continuing to exercise their franchise at a marginally higher rate than that of men for the third consecutive time in general elections has indicated that the gender gap in respect of turnout, which was once prominent in the State, is disappearing.
According to the data available with the Election Commission (EC), the turnout among men was relatively higher than that among women for several decades, right from the first election to the Lok Sabha in 1951-52. For this analysis, the percentage of turnout among women and men in the last 12 general elections held in the State since 1980 has been considered.
In 1980, the electorate of the State was 2.81 crore, of whom 1.40 crore were women. In the period taken up for analysis, the electorate in the State increased by nearly 2.2 times. In the 2024 general election, the electorate stood at 6.23 crore, of whom 3.1 crore were women.
The analysis showed that till 2009, there was a significant gender gap in terms of the percentage of women and men who exercised their franchise in general elections.
However, for the first time, in the 2014 elections, women voters surpassed men voters by a narrow margin. Since then, the percentage of women electors who cast their vote has been slightly higher than that of men. The increase in the percentage of women voters, particularly from 1999, could be due to a series of measures taken by the EC in the late 1990s, including the distribution of Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) and the creation of awareness on voting.
According to Ramu Manivannan, former Head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras, “The change in sex ratio of electors coupled with greater awareness among women on electoral process played a crucial role in reducing the gender gap.”
Quicker response
He further said that, relatively, women tend to respond more quickly to agendas than men, and were unlikely to abstain from voting.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls held on April 19, the percentage of women voters (69.86) was marginally higher than the percentage of men voters (69.59).
