Voter turnout surges in the last few hours to reach 56.7%

• At 6:49 pm, the voter turnout was 56.70%.
  
• The fall in voter turnout in 2020 is a break in a rising trend seen in the last few elections.
• The recent voter surveys showing a decisive victory for AAP may be a factor but a low turnout can be a factor in determining the lead for the winning party.
• Check out the voting day news and highlights here and some interesting trivia about the Delhi assembly election.
  

The 2020 assembly election in Delhi seems set to see a lower voter turnout, at least as per early indications. At 6:49pm, the voter turnout was 56.70% surging from morning's underwehelming performance. The polling percentage at 3 pm was 29.89%, according to the Election Commission. At 1 pm, the percentage was a mere 18.23%, whereas in 2015 nearly 20% of the voters had cast their ballot by the same time.

The fall in voter turnout in 2020 is a break in a rising trend seen in the last few elections.


The recent opinion polls showing a decisive victory for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by incumbent Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, may be a factor keeping people away from the polling booths. However, the change in turnout can be a factor in determining the lead for the winning party.


Within the overall turnout, the number of women who come out to vote is also a significant figure. There are over 81 lakh male voters, 66.80 lakh female voters, and 869 third-gender voters, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh said earlier. a fact that all political parties seem to have acknowledged.

The rise in number women voters has been a developing trend in recent years. “In 1962, women’s turnout was 15% lower than men’s turnout; but by 2014 women’s turnout had almost reached parity with men, short by only 1.5%,” according to book called ‘The Verdict’, authored by veteran Indian journalist Prannoy Roy and psephologist Dorab Sopariwala.


Arvind Kejriwal even made a special appeal to the women of Delhi on the voting day, asking them to discuss their preference with their spouses.


As the number of women voters rise, the percentage of women contesting the Delhi Assembly polls has reached double digits, at 11.8%, for the first time but no credit to any party as most of the women candidates are independents.


Here's how the turnout of women voters can affect elections.

Roy and Sopariwala⁠ analysed data from the 2014 elections to arrive at a conclusion. In 2014, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party had a lead of 9% among women voters, compared to a lead of 19% among men.

Therefore, if only women had voted in 2014 elections— without changing the parties they voted for— the winning NDA would have ended up with 265 seats, seven short of majority. And if only men had voted, the NDA would have swept the election with 376 seats.


While the hypothesis and the conclusion may be too simplistic, there is a case to be made that how women cast their vote may be different from how men do.

SEE ALSO:
Interesting facts about Delhi election 2020⁠— voter turnout, gender representation, migrant voters and a lot more

Delhi Elections 2020: Voting day news and highlights

Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation Programs By EC

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