Third-gender voter turnout less than 22% in 14 constituencies
he number of other gender electors in Karnataka has seen a 3.85% rise in this Lok Sabha election — from 4,826 in 2019 to 5,012 in 2024. While 3,067 electors from this group were eligible to vote in the 14 constituencies that went to the polls on April 26, the turnout remained a mere 21.75%.
According to data from the Election Commission, the number of third-gender voters in the State rose to 4,826 in 2019 from 3,890 in 2014. While a voter turnout of 11.49% was recorded in 2019, 9.8% of the registered electors turned up to vote in 2014.
In the 14 constituencies that went to the polls on April 26, three parliamentary constituencies recorded more than 30% turnout in the category. While the Chitradurga parliamentary constituency recorded the highest turnout at 37.5%, Kolar and Chickballapur followed with 32.23% and 30.83% turnout, respectively. The lowest turnout was recorded in Bengaluru South at 12.5% followed by Bengaluru Central and Bengaluru North at 18.2% and 18.54%, respectively.
Manoj Kumar Meena, Chief Electoral O«cer (CEO) for Karnataka, said although around 42,756 electors had been identied in the third-gender category this time, only
5,102 actually got themselves enrolled. This was because a majority of those identied preferred to register under ‘male’ or ‘female’ gender, he said.
During the 2023 Assembly polls, the Election Commission (EC) for the rst time chose a transgender person, Manjamma Jogati, as a poll icon to motivate the community to get enrolled and come out to vote. She continues to be the ambassador for the Lok Sabha polls too, Mr. Meena said.
P.S. Vastrad, State nodal o«cer for Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation programme (SVEEP), said the turnout in the third-gender category in the second phase had not crossed 22% despite e orts to sensitise and engage with transgender activists and community leaders to get all enrolled members from the third-gender group to come out and vote.
TNo Census
Akkai Padmashali, transgender rights activist and founder of Ondede, which works for the LGBT community, said no clear numbers are available on the transgender community because there has been no Census. “According to our estimation, the actual number of transgender persons in the State could be around ve lakh. We want the government to conduct a Census before the BBMP and other local body polls,” she said.
Pointing out that although a majority of transgender persons in urban areas are aware of their rights, they face di«culties in registration as they do not possess valid documents.
Lack of documents
Ms. Jogati said a majority of the community members are not able to get enrolled owing to a lack of documents. “Members are known by di erent names and most of them would have changed their identity. Technical issues such as getting school certicates with their changed names are a challenge. O«cials demand address proof and medical certicates. Where will our members get these certicates from?” she asked.