J’khand registers only 26 voters from transgender community

With about 20 million registered voters in Jharkhand, there are, in sharp contrast, just 26 transgender voters in the state.

In sharp comparison to nearly 1.99 crore voters in Jharkhand, the state has registered only 26 voters from transgender community in its electoral roll.

Three voters from the community would exercise their franchise for the first time in the 16th general elections.

“The transgender community has been signified in ‘others’ category in the electors list prepared by the Election Commission. Out of the total registered voters, they are 26 in numbers, out of which three are in between 18-19 years,” Jharkhand chief election officer PK Jajoria said.

“Despite their large presence in the society, the community has never taken initiative to get their names registered. The Election Commission too failed to take initiative in the matter,” said Aditya Jaiswal, a social worker from Empower Jharkhand.

However, as per the electoral roll, the parliamentary wise registered number of voters of this community are Rajmahal (1), Dumka (5), Godda (1), Chatra (1), Koderma (1), Giridih (5), Dhanbad (2), Ranchi (1), Jamshedpur (3), Singhbhum (2), Khunti (1), Lohardaga (0), Palamu (1), Hazaribagh (2).

“The registered voters in this group constitute only 77% of their population. The exercise of registering names is still continuing and the figure may go up,” Jajoria said.