IMPHAL, June 3: Female voters surpassed their male counterparts in term of turnout percentage during the Imphal Municipal Corporation election, voting for which was held yesterday in 27 wards spanning across seven Assembly constituencies in the city.
According to official records, the female turnout in Imphal West district was listed at 83.27% compared to 80.09% for males while in Imphal East district the turnout percentage comparison was 84.69% to 81.18% in favour of females.
In terms of the actual number of vote casted, Imphal West district which comprised of 20 of the 27 wards has total electorate of 123108, among which 59218 are male voters and 64890 are female voters. Only 101467 voters exercised their franchise in the district, and the tally for male was 47430, much less than the number of female voters who came out to vote (54037).
Among the 20 wards in the district, Ward No 17 in Singjamei AC witnessed the highest polling percentage of 90.17% while Ward No 25 in Thangmeiband AC saw a turnout of 63.82%, the lowest in the district.
The domination of female voters was repeated in Imphal East district which owns only seven wards. The total vote bank in the district is 51,756 out which 26,929 are women and remaining 24,827 are men. The final aggregate of voters was 42,962 (83.01%), out of which females were 22,807 (84.69%) and males were 20,155 (81.18%).
The lowest poll percentage was 76.98% in Ward number 26 while the highest poll percentage was 87.02% in Ward number 18 which incidentally was reserved for women.
Despite fear of disruption during voting due to several factors, main among which was the intensity of the pro-ILPS agitation at this time, re-polling was ordered in only one polling station. The dubious distinction went to polling station 14/8 (Welfare Club, Yaiskul Sougaijam Leirak) in Ward No 14. The state election commission has scheduled re-poll on June 4, 2016.
On the other hand, the date of counting of votes was fixed on June 6, 2016 from 8am when officials will open the ballot boxes presently being kept at strong rooms in Porompat and Lamphelpat.