The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is empowered to declare void a poll and order for re-election in a constituency where the overall turnout of women voters remains below 10% of the total votes cast, a ECP statement read on Wednesday.

Nearly 129 million registered voters in Pakistan are set to use their voting right as the fifth largest democracy in the world will choose its rulers for the next five years.

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Out of the total registered voters, total male voters stand at 69,263,704, while 59,322,056 are female voters.

“If the total female voters’ count in a constituency remains below 10% of the total votes cast, the Election Commission of Pakistan, as per law, can void the voting in that constituency and order for re-polling,” the electoral watchdog said.

In an encouraging development, the latest voting statistics reveal that the electoral gender gap in Pakistan has fallen to less than 10 million for the first time in a decade.

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A brief history of recent electoral data tells us that at the time of the 2007-08 general elections, the gender gap was at the 9.7 million mark, which increased to 11 million during the 2013 polls.

There was a further increase in the gap, to 12.49 million, during the 2018 polls. In November 2021, the electoral gender gap stood at 11.81 million.

Earlier, the electoral watchdog had urged the political parties to ensure 5 percent representation of women on general seats for the elections, in accordance with Section 206 of the Elections Act, 2017.