Heat on Democracy: Does Temperature Disenfranchise Women Disproportionately?

We study whether high temperatures affect voter turnout and consequently electoral outcomes in the villages of Maharashtra. Particularly, we find that peak temperatures in the afternoon reduce turnout. We establish that in general women are more likely to vote in the afternoon, while men are more likely to vote in the morning and evening. Therefore, women are more exposed to higher temperatures, and their turnout is disproportionately suppressed at hotter afternoon temperatures. We intend to extend our analysis to other dates for which we have polling data, as well as, electoral outcomes on winner margin and winner’s characteristics. We plan to study heterogeneities based on the stage of the agricultural cycle during election day, distance to a water source from the village affecting women’s time-use, affirmative action of the electoral seat, and different gender norms in villages with indigenous populations.