The State government’s move to clear the State Policy for Transgenders (2017) and subsequent awareness drives by organisations, working for the welfare of the community, have helped mobilise many transgender voters this year.

According to data available with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), transgender voter registration has doubled from the previous Assembly elections and 4,552 have registered this year in the State.

Transgender activist Akkai Padmashali too will be casting her vote for the first time with a fresh voter’s ID, officially registering her as a female voter. Her NGO, Ondede, has taken up awareness activities across the State to encourage more people from the community to register themselves. “We had an interaction with the Election Commission, asking for awareness programmes for the community. The commission took up the initiative. From Ondede, we too have organised awareness programmes in coordination with the EC.” At the district-level, the Election Commission’s drive to reach out to the community has been a big boost, said Sana Shree, a student of journalism from St. Joseph’s College, Bengaluru.

“The officials have been showing us demos of EVMs, and are also helping people register on the spot. All this has increased the number of registrations.” Read more via the Hindu