NEW DELHI: Although Phase 5 of Lok Sabha poll, which concluded on May 20, saw the lowest overall voter turnout among the five rounds of polling completed thus far, it was also the first phase to witness a higher female voter turnout as compared to the polling percentage among men.
As per the final turnout figures for Phase 5 (based on only EVM votes) released by the Election Commission on Thursday, the overall turnout was 62.2%, way lower than the 69.2% polling recorded in Phase 4, 65.7% in Phase 3, 66.7% in Phase 2 and 66.1% in Phase 1.The 63% polling percentage among women, however, gave the Election Commission – which has been focusing on improving women’s participation in elections with a slew of initiatives – a reason to cheer as it was nearly 1.5 percentage points higher than the male voter turnout.
EC added that with repolls held on Thursday in two polling stations of Kandhamal parliamentary constituency in Odisha, the turnout figures will be updated further on the voter turnout app.
The turnout across all genders – male, female and third gender – was the lowest in Phase 5. Among the five phases completed so far, Phase 4 has fared best in terms of turnout with 69.6% polling among males, 68.7% among women voters and 34.2% among third gender electors.
As per statewise turnout figures for Phase 5, West Bengal recorded the highest polling at 78.4%, followed by Odisha at 73.5%, Ladakh at 71.7% and Jharkhand at 63.2%. At 59.1%, Baramulla in J&K has recorded the highest polling since 1989. In fact, the turnout in Baramulla was higher than that recorded in the same phase in UP, Maharashtra and Bihar.
Female voter turnout surpassed men’s poll percentage in five of the eight states/UTs that went to polls on May 20; the five states/UTs being Bihar, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Odisha and UP. Women’s voting percentage was also higher than men’s in 11 of the 21 states/UTs covered in the Phase 1, 6 of the 13 states/UTs in Phase 2, 4 of the 11 states/UTs in Phase 3 and 4 of the 10 states in Phase 4.
Constituencywise, Arambagh in West Bengal saw the highest polling in Phase 5 at almost 81.4%, followed by Bangaon, also in West Bengal, at 80%. Urban apathy pulled down turnouts in Maharashtra, with Mumbai South and Kalyan witnessing the lowest turnouts of around 50% and 50.1% respectively. Kaushambi and Lucknow in UP reflected the trend with 52.8% and 52.3% polling respectively.
The final voting figures for Phase 5 released by EC are based on ballots cast on EVMs and do not include data from postal ballots. “Final turnout will be available post-counting with counting of postal ballots and its addition to total vote count,” said an EC spokesperson.
While 58 parliamentary constituencies (PCs) across eight states/UT will witness polling in Phase 6 on Saturday, the seventh and final phase will see 57 PCs going to polls on June 1.
As per the final turnout figures for Phase 5 (based on only EVM votes) released by the Election Commission on Thursday, the overall turnout was 62.2%, way lower than the 69.2% polling recorded in Phase 4, 65.7% in Phase 3, 66.7% in Phase 2 and 66.1% in Phase 1.The 63% polling percentage among women, however, gave the Election Commission – which has been focusing on improving women’s participation in elections with a slew of initiatives – a reason to cheer as it was nearly 1.5 percentage points higher than the male voter turnout.
EC added that with repolls held on Thursday in two polling stations of Kandhamal parliamentary constituency in Odisha, the turnout figures will be updated further on the voter turnout app.
The turnout across all genders – male, female and third gender – was the lowest in Phase 5. Among the five phases completed so far, Phase 4 has fared best in terms of turnout with 69.6% polling among males, 68.7% among women voters and 34.2% among third gender electors.
As per statewise turnout figures for Phase 5, West Bengal recorded the highest polling at 78.4%, followed by Odisha at 73.5%, Ladakh at 71.7% and Jharkhand at 63.2%. At 59.1%, Baramulla in J&K has recorded the highest polling since 1989. In fact, the turnout in Baramulla was higher than that recorded in the same phase in UP, Maharashtra and Bihar.
Female voter turnout surpassed men’s poll percentage in five of the eight states/UTs that went to polls on May 20; the five states/UTs being Bihar, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Odisha and UP. Women’s voting percentage was also higher than men’s in 11 of the 21 states/UTs covered in the Phase 1, 6 of the 13 states/UTs in Phase 2, 4 of the 11 states/UTs in Phase 3 and 4 of the 10 states in Phase 4.
Constituencywise, Arambagh in West Bengal saw the highest polling in Phase 5 at almost 81.4%, followed by Bangaon, also in West Bengal, at 80%. Urban apathy pulled down turnouts in Maharashtra, with Mumbai South and Kalyan witnessing the lowest turnouts of around 50% and 50.1% respectively. Kaushambi and Lucknow in UP reflected the trend with 52.8% and 52.3% polling respectively.
The final voting figures for Phase 5 released by EC are based on ballots cast on EVMs and do not include data from postal ballots. “Final turnout will be available post-counting with counting of postal ballots and its addition to total vote count,” said an EC spokesperson.
While 58 parliamentary constituencies (PCs) across eight states/UT will witness polling in Phase 6 on Saturday, the seventh and final phase will see 57 PCs going to polls on June 1.