Tamil Nadu electorate turns more mature

With the Election Commission taking to social media to improve registration and pulling out all stops to ensure last minute problems are reduced, the State is looking set for a never-before-seen number of voter-turnout. 

The total population and those graduating to voting age has risen faster in Tamil Nadu during the last 20 years when compared to the projections made for the period 2001 to 2026. This is seen as an anomaly and explanations are flying across. But a closer look at the numbers reveal the emergence of a more mature electorate. Mature in terms of age, literacy and gender mix. 

The total electorate during 2011 elections was 4.7 crore with almost an equal number of men and women voters. With voter turn-out being higher among women, the total who actually voted is evenly balanced between the genders at 1.83 crore. It is worthwhile to note that 2011 saw 77.8 per cent voter turn-out with 78.5 per cent women voters exercising their franchise and 77.7 per cent men voters doing so. 

The total population in 2011 was 7.21 crore as per census. The population of 18 years and older was 5.14 crore. Against this, there were 4.7 crore registered voters in 2011. The population in 2016 is projected to be 7.76 crore with 5.52 crore being eligible voters. 

The challenge in every election has always been getting the young, educated and other categories of urban population to vote. Most treat voting day as merely a holiday. “No politician does anything for the common man, so why should I vote,” used to be the usual refrain. Another reason cited, to stay away from voting, was the muddle in voters’ list and the sheer hassle of trying to reason out things with those on polling duty. 

The State Election Commission has addressed a number of these issues, such as online verification of EPIC, online registration and deletion, using technology to make voting extremely easy and less time consuming for the voter. 

The sex ratio in Tamil Nadu  has always had more females. This ratio, though declining, stands at 1033 females per 1000 males as per National Family Health Survey (NFHS -4). This is down from 1078 reported in NFHS -3. 

The ratio of women to men is set to decline slowly with the number of girl child per 1000 boy child at 954. The electorate in Tamil Nadu can be expected to be more aware with literacy rising sharply over the last 10 years from 69 per cent for women in 2005 to 79.4 percent. For men, the literacy stands at 89.1 per cent in NFHS 4.