Transgenders to vote for first time

For the first time in the country’s 63-year-old history of the Lok Sabha elections, transgenders will be considered separate from men and women in the electorate, with Karnataka having the highest number of such voters.

However, as of February 14, the number of transgenders in the voters list is a mere 28,341, accounting for just 0.0035 per cent of the 81.45-crore electorate.

Seventeen states and Union Territories have electors belonging to the “Other” category, with Karnataka having the largest number of 8,453 such voters followed by Uttar Pradesh at 6,630.

Of the total number of voters, 42.66 crore are men and 38.79 crore are women.The number of voters has risen by over 10 crore from 71.3 crore during the previous general elections.

An analysis of the figures of first-time voters has also show an interesting trend. “There has been a remarkable increase in the enrolment of electors in the age group of 18 to 19 years. Over 2.3 crore electors are in this age group. Voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years now constitute 2.88 per cent of the total number of voters as against 0.75 per cent in 2009,” Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath told reporters.

Political parties have kept a close watch on the dramatic rise in this section of the electorate with several attempts to woo them.

The Election Commission figures showed that Puducherry, with 52.01 per cent female electors, has the highest proportion of female voters, followed by Kerala with 51.90 per cent. Delhi has the lowest proportion of female electors at 44.57 per cent, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 45.20 per cent of female electors.