Why aren’t women a bigger force in Indian elections
Source: The New Republic
For the first time, female voters are set to outnumber male voters in the world's largest national election.
It is the largest election in the world, with 900 million registered voters. Initiated on April 11, India’s national elections will continue until May 23. And for the first time, pollsters suggest that the number of female voters is set to outnumber male voters. According to the Times of India, there was only a 1.79 percent disparity between male and female voters in the last election. This time around, that disparity will likely be eliminated, or even reversed. All-female polling booths, female poll officers, and other measures that have been introduced in the past few decades seem to have encouraged Indian women to turn out for the country’s elections.
India’s 397 million women voters obviously have tremendous potential clout. In 2014, The Times of India has calculated, the total number of women voters exceeded the total number of votes obtained by any of India’s major political parties, meaning that if Indian women decided to vote as a bloc they would control the election, transforming India’s future and its present simply by going to the polls and voting together.
Click here to read the full article published by The New Republic on 2 May 2019.
For the first time, female voters are set to outnumber male voters in the world's largest national election.
It is the largest election in the world, with 900 million registered voters. Initiated on April 11, India’s national elections will continue until May 23. And for the first time, pollsters suggest that the number of female voters is set to outnumber male voters. According to the Times of India, there was only a 1.79 percent disparity between male and female voters in the last election. This time around, that disparity will likely be eliminated, or even reversed. All-female polling booths, female poll officers, and other measures that have been introduced in the past few decades seem to have encouraged Indian women to turn out for the country’s elections.
India’s 397 million women voters obviously have tremendous potential clout. In 2014, The Times of India has calculated, the total number of women voters exceeded the total number of votes obtained by any of India’s major political parties, meaning that if Indian women decided to vote as a bloc they would control the election, transforming India’s future and its present simply by going to the polls and voting together.
Click here to read the full article published by The New Republic on 2 May 2019.