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participation rates that were more or less at par 18 percentage points, from only a little over 41%
with men’s. in 2004 to almost 60% in the 2019 elections,
In the second group are states that have effectively overtaking male turnout rates. This
historically seen high gender gaps in turnout – rise in female voter participation is even more
where male turnout rates used to far outpace female impressive considering that women still lag behind
turnout – but have recently witnessed a closing men in terms of education, employment or political
of that gap. This category includes Bihar, Odisha, knowledge in Uttar Pradesh.
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (UP), for example. Uttar Pradesh is not the only state that has
Many of these states at first glance seem unlikely recently seen a long-standing gender gap in turnout
candidates for gender equality in democratic not just vanish, but flip. In Bihar, Jharkhand and
participation. Odisha, too, female turnout has overtaken male
Scholars have long thought that economic turnout despite developmental challenges of these
development and education levels are important states (they rank 1st, 2nd and 9th, respectively, in
predictors of women’s voter participation. But states the NITI Aayog’s multidimensional poverty report).
in this second group record lower levels of economic And while in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan,
development and education than the states that men still voted at higher rates than women in the
always recorded high female turnout. In addition, 2019 elections, the gender turnout gap has shrunk
traditional gender norms considerably in both
are strong in many of states: In Rajasthan,
these places, effectively Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and UP have witnessed the gap is down from
preventing many women female turnout overtake male turnout despite more than 11 percentage
from participating in developmental challenges in these states. points in 2004 to a
parts of public life, mere 0.65 percentage
from attending village points in 2019; while
meetings to taking up a job. Yet, remarkably, women in Madhya Pradesh it has fallen from almost 18
still turn out to vote on election day. percentage points to only 4.5 percentage points over
Take, for example, Uttar Pradesh, India’s most the same period– the lowest it has ever been in the
populous state. The Multi-Dimensional Poverty region’s history.
Index recently published by NITI Aayog identified By contrast, two of the last holdouts when it
Uttar Pradesh as one of the poorest states in India, comes to the gender turnout gap are Gujarat and
with almost 40% of its population considered multi- Maharashtra, where the turnout gap only narrowed
dimensionally poor. That means that more than by a few percentage points over the past three
one-third of its residents live with not only very little election cycles. That seems surprising given these
money, but also a low quality of education and poor two states’ generally favourable development
health outcomes. Nevertheless, Uttar Pradesh has outcomes.
witnessed a remarkable rise in women’s electoral India has recorded rising female participation
participation over the past 20 years: In the 2004 rates not just in national elections, but also in state
elections, the state recorded a gender turnout gap elections. ECI is committed to further increase the
of almost 13 percentage points, the highest since women voter turnout not just in National Elections
1980 in UP and one of the largest in the country. but also in various State Legislative Assembly
Since then, male turnout has grown by about Elections. Adequate participation of women in
5 percentage points from close to 54% to nearly elections can ensure women empowerment in the
59% in the most recent Lok Sabha polls. But, true sense.
stunningly, female turnout has skyrocketed by
Franziska Roscher
Researcher, New York University

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