PORVORIM: Women voters outnumbered their male counterparts at the Mapusa municipal elections on Sunday. Out of 30,834 eligible voters, 23,315 voters exercised their franchise; 11,500 were men and 11,815 were women.
Political analysts say there are many reasons for this, including greater empowerment and awareness among women. Women are now deciding whom to vote for on their own, while earlier, their husbands or fathers would ask them to vote for a certain candidate.
In the 2010 municipal elections, the voting percentage was 67.50. This year, the election witnessed a healthy turnout of 75.61 percent – up by 8.11 percent.
The voter turnout in the 20 wards are as follows: Ward 1 – 80.20%, Ward 2 – 72.12, Ward 3 – 75.32, Ward 4 – 82.35, Ward 5 – 70.19, Ward 6 – 76.90, Ward 7 – 75.74, Ward 8 – 69.61, Ward 9 – 77.46, Ward 10 – 73.05, Ward 11 – 68.14, Ward 12 – 75.77, Ward 13 – 71.88, Ward 14 – 76.69, Ward 15 – 80.96, Ward 16 – 80.99, Ward 17 – 84.22, Ward 18 – 76.50, Ward 19 – 72.92 and Ward 20 -73.97.
Returning Officer and Bardez Deputy Collector Pundalik Khorjuvekar informed that the counting of votes would begin at Peddem Sports Ground at 8 am on Tuesday.
The votes of five wards will be counted at a time and will end by 1 pm.
