In comparison to the last assembly elections, women's participation in the electoral process has increased in all five states going to polls — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab, and Manipur — with UP seeing the highest participation of the fair sex at 29 percent, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said on Saturday while announcing the poll schedule.

A total of 18.34 crore electors from the five states will participate in the democratic process, with 8.55 crore of them being women. UP is followed by Goa with 24 points, Manipur with 19 points, Uttarakhand with 18 points, and Punjab with 10 points in terms of female involvement.

According to Chandra, Goa had a gender ratio of 1056, Manipur had a ratio of 1065, Punjab had a ratio of 902, Uttarakhand had a ratio of 928, and UP had a ratio of 868.

He claimed that about 13.01 lakh differently abled voters and 31.47 lakh senior persons, most of whom are over 80 years old, will use their right to vote, and that this will motivate the younger generation.

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According to the CEC, there are around 5.29 lakh service electors, which include Security Forces posted in far-flung locations, Mission personnel, and others.

In all states, polling hours have been extended by one hour. On January 5, the final election rolls were released. The EC has made an attempt to enhance voter turnout, and as a consequence, all states have experienced an increase in turnout, with Uttar Pradesh having the highest voter turnout.

Because the number of voters per voting booth has been set at 1,250, the number of polling stations has increased to 30,334 as the average number of voters per polling booth has fallen.

(IANS/PR)

(Keywords: Election, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, UP, Goa, Punjab)