Lok Sabha elections: Women voters outnumber men in phase 6

New Delhi: For the second time in a row, female voters surpassed their male counterparts by 3 per cent in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections, as per the Election Commission’s Tuesday data. This trend was also observed in the fifth phase.

The sixth phase, which took place on May 25, saw 58 parliamentary constituencies go to the polls. The voter turnout was 64.95 per cent for eligible female voters and 61.95 per cent for eligible male voters.

State-wise, Bihar saw 62.95 per cent of women vote compared to 51.95 per cent of men. In Jharkhand, the figures were 65.94 per cent for women and 64.87 per cent for men. Uttar Pradesh recorded a turnout of 57.12 per cent women and 51.31 per cent men. West Bengal witnessed a turnout of 83.83 per cent women and 81.62 per cent men. In Odisha, the turnout was 74.86 per cent for women and 74.07 per cent for men.

In the fifth phase, the turnout was 63 per cent for women and 61.48 per cent for men. Women’s participation exceeded men’s in Bihar, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh.

Among the six phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the fourth phase saw the highest voter turnout at 69.16 per cent, while the fifth phase recorded the lowest at 62.20 per cent. The fourth phase, which took place on May 13, had 86 constituencies across 10 states go to the polls. The fifth phase, which occurred on May 20, had 49 seats across eight states go to the polls.

The first phase, held on April 19 across 102 seats in 21 states, saw a turnout of 66.14 per cent. The second phase, which took place on April 26 across 88 seats in 13 states, recorded a slightly higher turnout of 66.71 per cent. The third phase, which occurred on May 7 across 94 seats in 11 states, saw a turnout of 65.68 per cent.

The final phase will take place on June 1, with 57 seats across eight states up for vote.

The penultimate phase saw a voter turnout of 63.37 per cent, with 7.05 crore of the 11.13 crore eligible voters casting their votes. The first six phases of the Lok Sabha polls saw 57.77 crore voters out of the 87.54 crore electors cast their votes. India, with an electorate of 96.88 crore, has the world’s largest electorate.

In the 2019 general elections, the sixth phase saw a turnout of 64.4 per cent. The fifth phase of the ongoing polls recorded a turnout of 62.2 per cent. The fourth phase saw a turnout of 69.16 per cent, which was 3.65 percentage points higher than the corresponding phase in the 2019 general elections. The third phase saw a turnout of 65.68 per cent. The second phase of the 2024 elections recorded a turnout of 66.71 per cent, while the first phase saw a turnout of 66.14 per cent.