The voter turnout in 2024 Lok Sabha elections declined by more than 1.3 percentage points in the last ten years, from 67.3 percent in 2014 to 65.97 percent in 2024, the Election Commission of India said in the electoral dataset released on Thursday.
At the same time, the number of votes polled saw an uptick by 5.3 percent, from 614 million in 2019 to 646.4 million this year, the Commission shared.
Overall, 64.64 crore voters voted in the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year with women voters outnumbering men to participate in the democratic festival.
As per the ECI statistics, female voter turnout was 65.78 percent female voter turnout was recorded in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, marginally surpassing male turnout that stood at 65.55 percent. In the electoral history, this is the second time since 2019 general election when women outvoted men. Dhubri in Assam had the highest female voting turnout at 92.17 percent, followed by Tamluk (West Bengal) at 87.57 percent.
The number of registered women electors also went up this time. Women electors were 47.63 crore out of the total 97.97 crore registered voters in 2024. This was up from 43.85 crore in 2019.
Highest percentage of female electors
Highest percentage of female electors (53.03 percent) was in Puducherry, followed by Kerala (51.56 percent). The female-to-male elector ratio witnessed a record high of 946 per 1,000 males this time, up from 926 in 2019, it emerged from the ECI statistics.
The figures also showed that women were not only enthusiastic in exercising their franchise but political parties also fielded them in numbers better than 2019.
Eight-hundred women contested the polls in 2024, up from 726 in 2019. Maharashtra topped the states and union territories in having female candidates (111), followed by Uttar Pradesh (80) and Tamil Nadu (77). On the contrary, 152 Lok Sabha constituencies did not have any female candidates.
Last year, the government passed a law in 2023 after amending constitution to reserve 33 percent of seats in Lok Sabha and assemblies of states for women.
The ECI on Thursday released the “world’s largest electoral dataset” unveiling 42 statistical reports on 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 14 reports each on four state assembly elections. These 100 statistical reports, the Commission observed, will be a treasure trove for academicians, researchers, and election watchers worldwide for in-depth analysis and policy insights.
The ECI has gone public with data at a time when opposition parties have repeatedly pointed fingers at voter turnout figures and counting of votes lapses in the Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
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