The Hindu 

Mangalore, Apr 23: Although women voters continue to outnumber their male counterparts in Dakshina Kannada, the difference between the two is shrinking.

There were 17,961 more women voters than men in 2004 Assembly elections. This number has shrunk to 16,247 in 2008, a reduction by 1,726.

The number of registered voters has gone up by 14,340 in the last four years. The number of voters as on March 29 this year was 13,26,693, including 6,71,470 women, against 13,12,353 voters in 2004.In terms of percentage, women eligible to exercise franchise in 2008 constitute 50.62 per cent of the total voters in the district. The men voters constitute 49.38 per cent at 6,55,223. In the 2004 Assembly elections, women constituted 50.68 per cent of total voters and men 49.32 per cent.

Of the 14,340 newly registered voters, 6,313 are women. Women account for 44 per cent of the new voters. This number could change given the last date for inclusion of names in voters’ list as April 29.

The District Electoral Officer and Deputy Commissioner, M Maheshwar Rao, feels that with the process of continuous updating, the final number of voters may change on the higher side.Incidentally, there are more male voters in four of the eight Assembly constituencies in the district after the delimitation.They are: Belthangady with 87,771 men, 84,843 women, Bantwal-86,193 men, 85,462 women, Puttur-81,723 men, 78,515 women and Sullia- 82,933 men, 79,649 women.

In the remaining four constituencieswomen outnumber men.