Ladies first: U.P. women score big, trump men in electoral roll race

Special summary revision of electoral roll campaign organised by ECI from October 27, 2023 to December 9, 2023 saw 31,19,121 women getting their names registered in comparison to 25,77,967 men

Women voters have outnumbered men in getting their names registered in the electoral roll in Uttar Pradesh even as the number of electorate in the state has increased from 15.03 crore to 15.29 crore.

Large enrolment of women voters has led to the improvement of the gender ratio of U.P. by 11 points. (For Representation)

The special summary revision of the electoral roll campaign organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) from October 27, 2023 to December 9, 2023 saw 31,19,121 women getting their names registered in the electoral roll in comparison to 25,77,967 men.

Chief electoral officer (CEO) of Uttar Pradesh Navdeep Rinwa said, “Large enrolment of women voters has led to the improvement of the gender ratio of U.P. by 11 points from 867 against 1,000 male voters on November 27, 2023 to 878 on December 9, 2023. The voter awareness campaign was launched to increase the participation of women in voting and increase the voting percentage in the state.”

The state’s chief electoral officer on Tuesday released the voter list of Uttar Pradesh. The number of voters has increased from 15.03 crore to 15.29 crore. They include 8,14,33,752 male voters, 7,14,82,605 female voters and 7,705 third gender voters.

Names of 57,03,304 new voters were included during the revision campaign while the name of 31,19,121 voters were removed. Of them, 10.50 lakh had died, 14.14 lakh had shifted and 6.21 lakh names were found repeated in the voter list. Total 25,84,184 voters increased in the state during the campaign.

Besides, 10.50 lakh physically challenged voters were identified in the state during the electoral roll revision campaign. The third gender voters declined from 7,846 to 7,705. In 2021, the number of third gender voters was 8,853. The electoral population ratio of Uttar Pradesh recorded 1.05% increase from 60.93% to 61.98%, Rinwa said.

During the revision of the electoral roll, 15.57 lakh new young voters (18-19 years) were enrolled which is 27.29% of the total new voters enrolled. The number of young voters in U.P. is 20.41 lakh. The ECI is sending the election photo identity card (EPIC) to new voters through speed post.

During the campaign, the focus was also on enrolment of eligible physically challenged people, women, homeless, transgenders, sex workers and particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG), he said.

Rinwa said, “Voter list will be put on display at the polling centres for a week. It will also be available on the website of the Chief Electoral Officers and District Election Officer for the voters to check their details. A QR code has been put on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer for the eligible voters to check their name in the voter list.”

“The ECI has launched “Main Hoon Na” drive to prompt people to check their names in the voter list. They will also get information about registration of their names in the voter list from the toll-free number 1950 launched by ECI or they can contact the booth level officer,” he said.

“If the name of an eligible person is missing from the electoral roll, the person can get their name registered online—ECI portal—or offline with the booth level officer. The ECI is committed that no eligible voter is deprived of their right to vote,” Rinwa added.

“The electoral roll revision meetings with the representatives of the political parties were held in the CEO office in September and October last year. The political parties were urged to appoint booth level agent during the revision of the electoral rolls,” he said.