New Delhi: Over 48,000 transgenders are eligible to vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said on Saturday. Addressing a press conference to announce the schedule of general elections for the 18th Lok Sabha, Kumar said according to the updated electoral rolls, there are 97 crore registered voters.
"Out of 97 crore electorate, transgender voters are 48,000," Kumar said. The number of transgender voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls was 39,075 with the maximum number of them from Uttar Pradesh (7,797) followed by Tamil Nadu (5,793) and Karnataka (4,826). The states and Union territories with no transgender voters were Arunachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Goa, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim.
According to the Election Commission, to abide by its "no voter be left behind" mandate, necessary efforts have been undertaken to ensure the inclusion of all sections of society in the electoral process. "Enrolment of transgenders in the electoral rolls and motivating them to participate in the electoral process has been a huge challenge for the Election Commission. Numerous measures have been adopted to spread awareness among the transgenders, resulting in an increase in the number of third gender electors," read the polls panel's report on the 2019 general elections.
The polls for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases, starting with voting for 102 seats in the first phase on April 19. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
