Jharkhand lone outlier as youth voter share declines, shows ECI data

Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Sikkim, West Bengal, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh witnessed some of the sharpest declines of young electors

The Election Commission of India’s (ECI’s) Lok Sabha 2024 Atlas, released on Wednesday, compiles data showing that the share of electors aged 18-29, as a percentage of total electors, declined from 25.37 per cent in 2019 to 22.78 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha (LS) polls.

 

The percentage of young electors declined in all states and Union Territories (UTs) except Jharkhand over the five-year period. In Jharkhand, the share of young electors increased from 27.42 per cent to 28.38 per cent.

 

Apart from Jharkhand, the percentage of young electors also increased in the UT of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) between 2019 and 2024 (from 24.03 per cent in 2019 to 27.89 per cent in 2024). However, this data is not directly comparable, as Ladakh was part of J&K during the 2019 LS polls and was treated as such in data tabulation before becoming a separate UT.

 

 

Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Sikkim, West Bengal, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh saw some of the sharpest declines in the percentage of young electors, reinforcing other data that points to India’s ageing population.

 

According to the ECI’s Atlas, the share of electors in the 30-59 age group increased from 59.77 per cent to 60.63 per cent during this period. Electors in the 60-79 age group rose from 13.15 per cent five years ago to 14.72 per cent in 2024, while the percentage of electors above 80 years increased from 1.71 per cent to 1.87 per cent.

 

In the 60-79 age group, Kerala had the highest share of electors in the country, with 20.46 per cent of its total voters falling in this cohort, followed by Goa (19.19 per cent), Tamil Nadu (17.7 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (16.62 per cent), and Maharashtra (16.34 per cent). 

 

According to ECI data, the total number of electors in 2024 increased by 7.43 per cent compared to 2019. The increase in 2019 compared to 2014 was 9.34 per cent.

 

The ECI’s list of the top 25 LS seats with the highest percentage increase in total electors between 2019 and 2024 includes 10 of Jharkhand’s 14 LS constituencies.

 

Topping the list is Jharkhand’s Koderma, which saw a 21.7 per cent increase in electors, followed by Telangana’s Chevella (20.3 per cent), Haryana’s Gurugram (20.19 per cent), Telangana’s Malkajgiri (20 per cent), and Jharkhand’s Palamu (19.49 per cent), Chatra (18.77 per cent), and Godda (18.27 per cent).

 

Others on the list include Haryana’s Faridabad (17.61 per cent), Gujarat’s Dahod (17.34 per cent), and Jharkhand’s Lohardaga (17.33 per cent) and Rajmahal (17.28 per cent).