Lok Sabha phase 5 new turnout at 62.2%

New Delhi: The voter turnout in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls held on May 20 has now climbed to 62.2 per cent, the Election Commission said on Thursday with women outnumbering men.

According to an EC statement, 61.48 per cent of the registered male voters turned up at the polling stations as compared to 63 per cent of female electors. In phase 5, 49 seats across six states and two union territories went for polling where over 8.95 crore people, including 4.69 crore men, 4.26 crore women and 5409 third gender were eligible to vote. The participation of women in voting was higher as compared to men in Bihar, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. The male-female turnout gap was wide in Bihar and Jharkhand. While in Bihar, the male turnout was 52.42 per cent, the female turnout was 61.58 per cent. Similarly, in Jharkhand, the male turnout was registered at 58.08 per cent, while the female turnout was 68.65 per cent.

A maximum of 38.22 per cent of voters registered in the third gender category turned out to vote in West Bengal. EC noted that repolls at two polling stations in the Kandhamal parliamentary constituency in Odisha will be concluded on Thursday and the figures "may" change accordingly, once the data is updated for post-repoll.

In the corresponding phase in the 2019 polls, the turnout was registered at 64.16 per cent when 51 seats across seven states went to polls. According to the Election Commission, the voter turnout in the fourth phase stood at 69.16 per cent, 3.65 percentage points higher than the corresponding phase in the 2019 parliamentary elections.