I n the villages of Karnataka, women turn up at polling booths in large numbers. 97% of the women we surveyed in Kolar district said they vote in every election. Democracy, at least in its most visible form, is not missing them. But once the votes are counted, a quieter story unfolds. Only one in four women has ever attended a Gram Sabha, and nearly two-thirds don’t know what a Gram Sabha is. Most cannot name a single Panchayat member. One woman from Malur said simply, “I vot