In 2024, elections were held in 70 nations that constitute nearly half of the world’s population. The elections this year featured a more polarized discourse, pollsters’ flawed assessment of voter perception and protests over interference in elections. India, the world’s largest democracy, saw the biggest-ever voting exercise with over 64 crore people polling in this year’s Lok Sabha elections.
‘Women Power’ in elections
Lok Sabha elections as well as the state elections saw political parties giving greater attention to women voters and higher turnout among them. As per the data released by the Election Commission, the turnout among female voters reached 65.78%, slightly higher than the 65.55% recorded for male voters. Men were outnumbered by women in 2024, only the second time in the history Lok Sabha elections after 2019. In the assembly elections, increased welfare payments for women featured prominently on the agenda of all political parties.
Missing gender parity
Unfortunately, the same level of enthusiasm is missing when it comes to reducing the gender gap in terms of political representation. Despite the increased participation of women, gender representation in parliament remains significantly lower in India compared to other nations. Only 75 women were elected to the Lok Sabha this year, along with more than 460 men. Out of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, 152 saw no women candidates.
Also, a global struggle
Former US President Barack Obama once said, “I’m absolutely confident that for two years if every nation on earth was run by women, you would see a significant improvement across the board on just about everything…living standards and outcomes.”
But, even after so many years, women’s representation in political leadership across the world remains low, with men retaining their dominant position. Only five women were elected as Heads of State out of 31 direct presidential elections held worldwide. These women leaders were elected in Iceland, Mexico, Namibia, North Macedonia and the Republic of Moldova. UN Women has claimed that “at the current rate of progress, gender parity in national legislative bodies will not be achieved before 2063”.
Measures for inclusive governance
In 2023, the Indian Parliament passed a law mandating one-third representation for women in Lok Sabha. However, a timeline for the implementation of the quota for women is yet to be announced. Mexico has also announced reforms requiring gender parity in government cabinets at the state and federal levels.