The Election Commission of India on Wednesday released the final voter list for West Bengal, with the total electorate increasing to 7.43 crore, which is 10.6 lakh more than the draft list released by the poll panel in November last year.
In the draft list, the total number of voters stood at 7.33 crore.
According to the list, the number of male voters is 3.78 core and the number of female voters is 3.64 crore, a difference of only 13.1 lakh. The third gender accounts for 1,642 voters.
Interestingly, the final list shows an increase in the gender ratio in the state to 966 females per 1,000 males. In the draft list, the gender ration was pegged at 962 females per 1,000 males. Not only in case of new registration, but there has been a substantial rise of more than 2.38 per cent which is the highest in recent years.
A simple number crunching shows that in 2016, the gender ratio was 934 females per 1,000 male voters, which rose to 938 in 2017 and 942 in 2018. Interestingly, in 2019 it made a leap to 949 and in 2020 it was 956 and now it has been even more, touching 966 female voters against 1,000 males.
There has also been a spike of more than 2.38 per cent in the registration of new voters. In the draft list, the percentage of new voters — those aged between 18 and 19 years — was only 1.12 per cent.
“The registration of new voters is significant because the West Bengal government for the last few years has promoted the cause of the younger generations and women in general. In the last elections also, the ruling Trinamool Congress got overwhelming support from women voters, and the final list reflects that only,” a senior sociologist said.
The Commission said that there will be continuous updating of the list and the people can include their names in the it all through the year. People can also lodge their complaints in case their name is deleted from the list through the toll-free number provided by the Commission.