CEC Sushil Chandra says 'more women take part in polls than men, 235.72% rise since 1971'

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra said on Friday that after seven decades and 17 general elections, women's participation in India's electoral process has exceeded that of men. Addressing an international webinar on the theme of 'Enhancing electoral participation of Women, Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) & Senior citizen Voters', CEC Sushil Chandra claimed that the gender gap has not only closed but also reversed.

"After seven decades and 17 General Elections since Independence, women's participation in India has exceeded that of men and stood at more than 67% in the 2019 General Election. The gender gap, a crucial parameter, which was -16.71% in 1962, has not only closed but reversed to +0.17% in 2019. In fact, India has witnessed a 235.72% increase in female electors since the 1971 elections," Sushil Chandra was quoted by ANI as saying.

'Last 5 state Assembly polls saw 4.5 times more electors participating': CEC

The Election Commission of India (ECI) chief further highlighted various initiatives taken by the ECI in order to enhance women's participation, that include:

• Associating more women as polling booth officials
• A larger number of All Women Managed Polling Stations
• Creche facility at Polling Stations
• Separate toilets and waiting area at polling booths
• Ensuring ease of registration with women Block level Officers motivating women in their own socio-cultural milieu

Sushil Chandra also elaborated on the concept of absentee voter facilitation, introduced by ECI in 2020 during his address. This concept was made to ensure voting facility at the doorstep especially for 80-plus senior citizens, Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and COVID-affected voters. He added that such postal ballot facility had been successfully implemented across six state Assembly elections including Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, which had a cumulative elector base of 73.6 million. 

"In the last five state Assembly elections, 4.5 times higher electors participated in the electoral process through postal ballots and there is scope for widening the outreach and facilitation efforts. There are around 15 million 80-plus electors today in the country', he added

Chandra also pointed out the infrastructural and attitudinal challenges faced by Persons with Disabilities and urged all the participants to have 'accessibility focus'. He cited various initiatives taken by ECI like the PwD app, provision of a wheelchair, volunteer assistance, Braille EPIC card, Braille signage in EVMs, free transport to and from the polling station, priority voting, and provision of AMFs to provide a hassle-free experience to PwD electors.

(With inputs from ANI)