Yawning gap between first-time male, female voters in state

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, January 24

Enrolment of young women voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years lagged behind young men voters in the same category in the state. According to information, the young women voters are one-third of the total voters registered in this category.

As per the electoral rolls compiled by the State Election office till today, there are 1,13,346 women voters as compared to 2,30,544 men voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years in the state.

Panchkula tops the state with the best men-women voters’ ratio with 3,939 men and 2,423 women voters enrolled in the 18-19 age bracket.

There is a major difference in the enrolment of young men and women voters in Mewat and Palwal regions. As many as 11,419 men voters have been registered as compared to 4,491 women voters in Mewat. In Palwal, the number of young men voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years is 6,802, while women voters in the same category are 2,818.

Similarly, in the age bracket of 20-29 years, the imbalance in men-women voters’ ratio is quite striking with 23,05,013 men voters and 15,70,724 women voters in the state. In this age bracket, there 228 transgender voters.

Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Agarwal said, “The number of women voters in the age group of 18-19 years is less as per the census. In order to address the gap and encourage their participation in the democratic process, announcements are being made regarding attractive incentives.” As per the voters’ list, Haryana has a total of 1.97 crore registered voters —1.05 crore men and 92.50 lakh women voters.

Hisar Divisional Commissioner Geeta Bharti had directed officials to launch a drive to improve the enrolment of young women voters.

Incentives to encourage participation

The number of women voters in the age group of 18-19 years is less as per the census.To address the gap and encourage their participation in the democratic process, announcements have been made regarding attractive incentives. — Anurag Agarwal, chief electoral officer