Civil society has come up with innovative ways to attract women to voting stations in India. This as a third of India’s women stay at home during the elections.
On May 13, the fourth phase of India’s Lok Sabha elections took place, which spanned across a hot summer with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees celsius in many regions. These elections determine whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will get a third term or not.
One of the several initiatives by district authorities and the Election Commission of India (ECI), was the Womeniya’s campaign to encourage more women to vote to increase participation as part of the country’s 969 million voters. These initiatives included distributing free ice-cream to voters in Huballi, Karnataka and a mini marathon called the ‘Democracy Run’ in Hyderabad. After the second round of voting, the ECI boosted its voter turnout drive in collaboration with various stakeholders to motivate people to cast their votes.
In Madhya Pradesh, voters displaying inked fingers were offered free bus rides and a trade body organised a lucky draw for voters. The ECI set up ‘sakhi booths’ in Karnataka with all-female polling staff and ‘green’ polling booths with messages on climate change. Furthermore, voter participation was encouraged through organisations like Rotary Clubs across urban areas.
As the elections progressed to the fifth phase on May 20, there were concerns about a lower voter turnout compared to the 2019 elections. This was evident in the initial phases, resulting in unease within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This led to renewed efforts by officials and Hindu nationalist groups to urge people to vote.
The latest data from the ECI reveals the turnout of the first four phases was 66.95% of registered voters. Maharashtra recorded the lowest turnout at 48.88% with the main opposition party accusing the ECI of intentionally causing delays and long queues at voting stations thus discouraging voters. Low voter turnout remains a concern in India particularly in urban areas.
The low number of Indian voters reflects the challenges faced by the working class to take time off work, and the mistrust of the electoral process. Additionally, millions of migrants in India deem it impractical to return to their own districts to vote. Meanwhile Indian women have traditionally trailed behind male voters, this gap was closed in the 2019 elections.
A significant issue in rural areas was the lack of familiarity with technology, particularly the electronic machines. Apart from the Womeniya campaign and other provisions such as drinking water facilities at voting stations, the voting process was explained through an educational video featuring Prasad. This allowed voters to be more informed about the electoral process encouraging them to make their mark. The video reached a large audience and accumulated hundreds of thousands of views and downloads.
The Jalgaon district yielded positive results. The overall turnout in the fourth phase increased to 69% however, only slightly higher than the previous round. A noticeable improvement of 11.79% was witnessed compared to the 2019 elections. Overall, the districted recorded an improvement of 8% from the previous election.
