Women’s Participation in the Electoral Process – a perspective

1. Women’s Participation in the Electoral Process – a perspective Akshay Rout Director General Election Commission of India akshaykrout@gmail.com

2. Democracy and Participation • Democracy seeks to address socio-economic challenges, issues of livelihood, social justice and freedom through the instrument of representation. • People’s participation in decision making or direct stake-holding is the underpinning idea. • Election is starting point of democracy, if not the same as democracy • Need for active Participation to rule out any silent threat to democracy.

3. Global Scene • Consistent decline in participation, more consistently in recent years • 1945-1975 – average turnout about 77% • 1976-1990 – 74.8% • 1990-2006 – 69.7% • India – 55-60%

4. Outlook - Concerns • Situation suggests a democracy deficit- Representatives increasingly represent smaller majorities – with participation declining and contestants increasing • Weakening of stake holding in governance through lower participation • Democracy might suffer slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment • Challenge is: How to engage the excluded, the disaffected, the alienated • People must know their identity as voters and voters must know importance of voting

5. The Broad and the Narrow Focus • Education in universal role of creating ability and raising individual’s capacity to participate, remove pathological conditions that induce non-participation • Civic Education – larger and long term • Electoral education- ongoing process, needs more lead time for practice and implementation • Voter education – election time, pre-election time

6. Social agenda of Commission Development approach combines with enforcement Gives election management its soul Information + motivation + facilitation = Participation Implemented in 23 General Elections (Jharkhand to Delhi) and 4 annual Revision of Rolls Systematic Voters‘ Education & Electoral Participation (SVEEP)

7. SVEEP - Aims To ensure that every eligible citizen is enrolled and to bring every enrolled elector to the polling booth voluntarily • Addressing: • Gaps in Voter Registration • Low and declining turnout in polling • Informed, ethical and inducement free voting • Continuous electoral democracy and civic education

8. Institutional Architecture ECI Chief Electoral Officer District Election Officer/ (DMs /Collectors) Electoral Registration Officer (Constituency) Booth level Officer (polling station area) • Division at ECI • CEO to chair State Core Committee, • Addl/Joint CEO SVEEP at State Hqs • DEO/CEO(ZP) to chair District Core Committee • SVEEP Nodal Officer in district for election

9. Situation Analysis: • Three major gaps: • Gender Gap • Urban Apathy • Youth disconnect • Inclusion (weaker sections and citizens in difficult conditions) • Identifying micro-level gaps • Polling Stations with lower voter turnout and reasons thereof identified • Identification of left out sections/groups • Targeted interventions

10. Process Achievements : Infrastructure • National Framework • Major consultations • National Voters’ Day • District and State Plans for elections • Plans for Summary/Special revision • Financial resource/Budget made available • Training • Awareness Observers in elections

11. Process Achievements: partnerships • Central Government Departments/organizations • Educational Institutions • Civil Society and Youth Organisations • Government Media • State Government Departments with community reach • Engagement of Campus Ambassadors • New access points like banks, post offices, hospitals etc • Icons – national and regional

12. Formal Partners • MoU with UNDP for various programmes including Voter education • MoU with National Literacy Mission Authority of India for electoral literacy in rural areas • Prominent media houses and CSOs at national and state levels. Framework of Engagement also for corporates.

13. SVEEP Summary Scores • Ownership • Institutionalization • Established partnerships • Momentum and sustainability • Turnout and registration figures

14. Participation Surge 2009-2013

15. Comparative Voter Turnout(Assembly Elections 2009-11)

16. Comparative Voter Turnout(Assembly Elections 2012)

17. Comparative Voter Turnout(Assembly Elections 2013)

18. Women’s Case

19. Facts • National Gender Ratio – 933* • Rural – 946* • Urban – 900* • This adverse gender ratio is reflected further in registration: under-enrolment of women; • In voting, the gap is widened further with the lesser percentage of women turning up. *Census 2011

20. Women participation in LokSabha Elections

21. Female focus by ECI • Gender gap in Electoral Roll is specifically monitored and all demand and supply side measures are being taken. • Women specific education tools are being developed • Women specific communication tools are used • Female facilitation in polling stations

22. Female focused Interventions • Partnership with National Rural literacy Mission to spread electoral literacy among rural women • ECI Campus Ambassadors being appointed in Colleges/Universities will be 50% or more from among girls • Anganwadi , ASHA and other female field level workers involved in big way. • Out of the four national Icons 2 are women

23. Outcome -1 • Focus on women has yielded results and 16 of the last 23 Assembly elections since late 2009, saw higher women turnout percentage than men. • This includes the likes of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, which have some of the traditionally patriarchal societies.

24. Comparative Male/Female Turnout(for Assembly Elections in 2009-11)

25. Comparative Male/Female Turnout(for Assembly Elections in 2012)

26. Comparative Female Turnout(for Assembly Elections in 2013)

27. Outcome- II • Turnout percentage of women rose substantially over previous election • Uttar Pradesh - increase of 18% • Rajasthan - 10%, • Goa -14% • Uttarakhand, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh - around 8-9% increase

28. Comparative increase in Male/Female turnout

29. Persisting Challenges(enrolment) • Gender ratio on Rolls is lagging behind gender ratio in census by more than 10 points in 15 States • Of these gender gap is more than 50 points in 6 states • Gap between census and electoral roll gender ratio vary by more than 90 points in Uttar Pradesh

30. Challenges(turnout) • Gender gap in turnout in LS 2009 was more than 5% in 9 states viz Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, J&K, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh with Madhya Pradesh leading with a gap of more than 13%, J&K with 12% and Gujarat having a gap of around 9% • In Assembly Elections, the gender gap is minimised in most states post 2009

31. Expectations from Consultation • Identify ways by which the Ministries/ Departments/organisations can partner with the Commission at national and at State level • Integrating women’s electoral participation/voters’ education with various national programmes and outreach programmes of the departments • Strengthen the collaboration with CSOs in the field of registration also for voting especially at State and district level • Greater and sustained contribution from private media in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections • Concrete commitment by Public Sector and Corporate Sector to this participation agenda as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility

32. thanks