Special drive in Delhi to add transgenders, sex workers in voters' list

The office of Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer has initiated the process to set up special camps to enrol transgenders, sex workers and vulnerable women in the voters' list, officials said on Saturday.

With Lok Sabha polls scheduled next year, the CEO office recently recommended to district electoral officers to organise these
special camps for including sex workers, destitute and homeless women in the voters list, they said.

Currently, the transgender voters are referred to as "Third Gender" in the electoral roll, which is not in consonance with the Transgender Persons (Protection Right) Act, 2019. So, in tune with the Act, they may be referred to as "Transgender", the communication stated.

To promote inclusiveness in the electoral process, the district election officers have also been recommended to start a process for mapping transgender in the city to identify and enrol those left out in the electoral rolls, said a senior officer.

It has also been recommended that transgender need to be included in the electoral process through outreach activities and creating awareness to encourage them to participate in the elections.

The population of transgender in the city, according to Census 2011, was 4,213, said officials, adding, however, only a little over 1,100 were enrolled as voters.

The officials said there was no estimate of their actual population in the city at present.

These recommendations were made after the first meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Inclusive Election (NACIE) held earlier in June this year, they said.

The officials said that a major barrier the participation of sex workers in the elections is due to a variety of factors such as no address proof, rejection of forms by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) due to mobility of sex workers and inability to come out of their surroundings and vote among others.

The district election officers have been asked for holding camps for enrolment in the areas having sex workers community.

Efforts will also be made by the election office to ensure the participation of sex workers, women in difficult circumstances such as destitute and those living in shelter homes or nari niketan and homeless in the elections, they said.

The district electoral officers have been asked to hold camps for their enrolment and take help of the NGOs to ensure their electoral participation through a multipronged strategy, they added.