The decline has not been uniform across genders. The number of male voters fell from 40.7 million in January to 39.2 million in September, a decline of 3.8%. The drop in female voters was greater: from 37.2 million to 34.9 million, a drop of 6.1%. In absolute numbers, 1.55 million men were delisted, compared to 2.27 million women, meaning that almost 60% of all delistings during the SIR process were women, the Hindustan Times reported.
This gender imbalance is evident in several large districts.
Muzaffarpur: The number of voters fell from 3.41 million to 3.29 million, a decrease of more than 122,000. Male voters fell by 3.4% and female voters by 3.9%.
Madhubani: The number of rolls fell from 3.33 million to 3.1 million, a loss of 227,000 people. Female voters saw a drop of 8.2%, while male voters fell by 5.5%.
Patnathe state’s largest constituency in terms of electorate, fell from 5 million to 4.81 million. Men fell by 3.5%, women by 4.1%.
Samastipur: Rolls contracted from 3.08 million to 2.92 million. Female registrations decreased by 6.7%, those of men by 3.8%.
In certain neighborhoods, the disparity is even more pronounced:
Gopalganj: The total number of voters fell by 11.3%, from 2.03 million to 1.8 million. Female voters declined by almost 15%, while male voters declined by 7.8%.
Kishanganj: Lost more than 10,000 voters; women decreased by 11.9%, men by 5.5%.
Supaul: The electoral base increased from 1.62 million to 1.53 million. The number of women decreased by 7%, that of men by 3.6%.
