The low voter turnout in Uttarakhand has always remained an area of concern for the Election Commission. The commission has taken a target of 75 per cent voter turnout in the State for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. The tough geographic terrain and migration of people to other parts of the country in search of jobs are some of the reasons for low voter turnout in the State. The data shows that voter turnout has always remained less in Uttarakhand as compared to the national average. In the Lok Sabha elections of 2004, the voter turnout in all the five parliamentary constituencies of the State was 49.25 per cent while the national average voter turnout was 58.07 per cent. In this election, 55.43 per cent men and 44.94 per cent women came out to cast their franchise. In the LS elections of 2009 and 2014, the voter turnout was 53.96 and 62.15 per cent respectively while the national average stood at 58.21 and 66.30 per cent respectively. In the last LS elections held in the year 2019, 61.50 per cent voter turnout was recorded which was less than the national average of 67.40 per cent. It is interesting to note that in the LS elections of 2014 and 2019 more female voters came out to vote than their male counterparts. In 2014 the female voter turnout was 63.05 per cent which was higher than 61.34 per cent turnout. This trend continued in the LS election of 2019 when 64.38 per cent female voters in Uttarakhand came out to participate in the festival of democracy as compared to 58.86 per cent males.
Another interesting aspect regarding voter turnout is that the voting percentage is higher in Assembly elections as compared to LS elections. In the Assembly elections of 2012, the voter turnout was 67.22 per cent which is the highest turnout recorded in assembly and LS elections so far. In the Assembly elections of 2017 and 2022 the voter turnout was 65.56 and 65.37 per cent respectively.
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Uttarakhand, BVRC Purushottam said efforts are being made to increase the turnout to 75 per cent in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
He further informed that Systematic Votes Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programmes are being held in different parts of the State and in the last one month about 40 lakh voters have taken a pledge to cast their vote.
