Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023 | Bengaluru’s voter turnout remains below expectations despite concerted efforts

IT clusters such as Bommanahalli, BTM Layout, KR Puram and CV Raman Nagar usually record low polling rates

Bengaluru, which has always had a dubious distinction of low polling percentage during elections despite its high civic engagement, has seemingly continued this trend even in the 2023 Assembly polls. This was despite the Election Commission ensuring that it be held on Wednesday so its not a long weekend, and ensured that offices give their employees a day off so that they can vote.

Provisional polling percentages at the end of May 10 showed BBMP (Central) at 55.45 percent, BBMP (North) at 52.88 percent, BBMP (South) at 52.8 percent, and Bengaluru Urban at 56.98 percent. This is despite the fact that Karnataka recorded its best-ever polling percentage at 72.81 percent, beating 2018’s turnout of 72.13 percent.

The ECI had set a turnout target of 65 percent for Bengaluru, and around 75 percent for the state.

Final figures may differ slightly from the above provisional figures, but are not expected to be massively different. Along with the figures being reconciled, postal ballots and the votes of those who availed the facility to vote from home have not been tallied.

Bengaluru has the dubious distinction of having low polling percentages during elections. The voter turnout in Bengaluru during the 2013 and 2018 assembly polls stood at 62 percent and 57 percent, respectively. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Bengaluru's turnout was 54.1 percent — lower than the 56 percent recorded in 2014.

Of the 224 constituencies in the state, 28 are in Bengaluru. As per the provisional figures, Yeshwantpur had the highest turnout at 63.69 percent, followed by Yelahanka at 62.68 percent, Anekal at 61.85 percent, Chikpet at 58.09 percent, and Jayanagar at 58 percent.

The five constituencies in the capital city with the lowest turnout were CV Raman Nagar (47.43 percent), BTM Layout (49.15 percent), Bommanahalli (49.5 percent), Dasarahalli (50.16 percent) and Bengaluru South (51.6 percent).

Elections were previously held close to the weekend, which resulted in many getting away from the city for brief vacations leading to low voter turnout. This is why the ECI pointedly chose a day in the middle of the week to spur voters.

In fact, according to Karnataka Special Officer (Elections) AV Surya Sen, they ran awareness campaigns, focussed on citizen engagement, simplified the process of voter enrolment, and more. The EC has been conducting more awareness campaigns through walkathons, street plays, awareness campaigns on buses, the metro, theatres, and even using garbage collection vehicles. It also roped in Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and tech parks for awareness drives.

Revathy Ashok, Chief Executive Officer & managing trustee at Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC), an NGO, told Moneycontrol that the polling percentages for Bengaluru are surprising as well as disappointing.

“In fact, many first-time voters too enthusiastically participated in the election. We expected a lot more participation from the citizens, but there should be a scientific study on the quality of electoral rolls,” she said.

Not just voter apathy?

While it is true that IT clusters such as Bommanahalli, BTM Layout, KR Puram and CV Raman Nagar usually record low polling rates, experts say its not just voter apathy that can explain the low voter turnout, especially after all the measures that have been taken.

Usually, voter list errors, or names of deceased voters not being removed contributes to bringing down the overall polling percentage.

This time, activists say that the electoral rolls may equally be to blame.

Commander PG Bhat, a voter reforms activist, said, “It's unfair to blame voter apathy. The main culprit is the electoral rolls, and there are a lot of duplications/entries. I have demonstrated it several times in the last 10-12 years. Poor quality of the electoral rolls is bringing down the overall polling percentage of the city,” he said.

“The actual polling percentage will be at least 10-15 percent more, but unfortunately, neither officials nor politicians are interested in cleaning up the system, and they keep blaming citizens for not voting in the polls,” he added.

Similarly, Anjali Saini, a member of one of Bengaluru’s most active RWAs Whitefield rising, said that IT employees in the city move from one constituency to another. Whitefield Rising has also been organising voter awareness drives.

“Even if they [IT employees] register in another constituency, they may not delete the previous one. There are also irregularities in the electoral rolls. For instance, a Whitefield resident who has been casting her vote in Mahadevapura segment was surprised when her name was missing, and it was later found that her vote is in CV Raman Nagar, so she couldn't vote,” she said.