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Women Drive Bihar’s Turnout to Highest Since 1951, Provisional ECI Data Show

Final figures may shift pending inclusion of service voters before Friday’s count.

Overview

  • Provisional statewide turnout stands at 66.91%, roughly 9.6 percentage points higher than the 2020 assembly polls, according to the Election Commission of India.
  • Women voted at 71.6% versus 62.8% for men, a gap of about nine points that the Chief Election Commissioner publicly lauded as a show of confidence in the process.
  • In phase 1, women recorded 69.04% turnout versus 61.56% for men, rising in phase 2 to 74.03% for women against 64.1% for men, with the second phase overall at about 68.76–68.79%.
  • Turnout topped 70% in multiple districts, led by Katihar at 78.84%, Kishanganj at 78.15% and Purnea at 76.14% in the Seemanchal region.
  • The ECI stressed the figures are provisional as reports from roughly 2,000 booths and service voters are pending, while some analysis notes the record rate also reflects a voter roll cleanup that cut about 3.1 million electors even as votes cast rose by 6.6 million.