Women Voters Lead Turnout in Recent Assembly Elections Across India
Significant Voter Turnout Trends
Women voters wait in a queue to cast their votes at a polling station in Sonapur. (Photo:PTI)
New Delhi, May 8: In a notable development following the recent Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India has reported that female voters surpassed male voters in turnout across all participating states and one union territory, indicating a remarkable change in electoral engagement.
West Bengal achieved the highest overall voter turnout at 93.71 percent across 293 constituencies, with over 6.38 crore votes cast from an electorate of more than 6.81 crore.
Female voter participation reached 93.8 percent, exceeding the 92.06 percent turnout among male voters, excluding the Falta constituency, which is set for repolling.
Tamil Nadu saw an 85.01 percent turnout, with nearly 4.8 crore votes cast from 5.74 crore registered voters.
Women led again with an 86.2 percent turnout, while male participation stood at 83.77 percent.
In Assam, the voter turnout was recorded at 85.74 percent, with over 2.15 crore votes cast. Female turnout was 86.53 percent, slightly higher than the 84.95 percent for men.
Kerala's turnout was 78.11 percent, with more than 2.12 crore votes polled. Women voters achieved an 81.17 percent turnout, significantly outpacing the 74.9 percent among men.
The Union Territory of Puducherry reported an overall turnout of 89.82 percent, with women voters again leading at 91.39 percent, totaling over 8.5 lakh votes cast.
Despite the high participation rates, the representation of women among elected officials remains low. Tamil Nadu elected 23 women MLAs (9.83 percent), West Bengal 37 (12.62 percent), and Kerala only 11 (7.85 percent) in their assemblies.
The elections also saw minimal participation from third-gender candidates, with only two contestants—one each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala—who both lost and forfeited their deposits.
In terms of electoral infrastructure, West Bengal had the most polling stations at 85,092, followed by Tamil Nadu with 75,064 and Assam with 31,490.
Tamil Nadu also had the highest number of candidates, with 4,023 running across 234 constituencies, averaging 17 candidates per seat, with a peak of 79 in one constituency.
West Bengal had 2,920 candidates, while Kerala had the fewest among major states with 883 candidates.
The data also revealed a relatively low usage of the None of the Above (NOTA) option, with Tamil Nadu recording the lowest NOTA share at 0.4 percent, while Assam had the highest at 1.23 percent.
West Bengal reported 0.78 percent NOTA votes, followed by 0.77 percent in Puducherry and 0.57 percent in Kerala.