ISLAMABAD: Over the past decade, Pakistan has experienced a substantial increase in the number of registered voters, witnessing an additional 42.3 million individuals added to the electoral roll since General Elections (GE-2013).
The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) released on Sunday a detailed analysis of voters’ participation in the General Election 2024 (GE-2024) as part of its celebration of National Voters Day.
Female voter registration continues to lag its proportion in the population. Since its adoption in 2017, Section 47 of the Elections Act, which calls for special measures for women’s registration in constituencies with a gender gap exceeding 10 percent, led to dedicated efforts, resulting in a significant increase in female voter registration. This has yielded a substantial reduction in the gender gap, from 11.8 percent in 2018 to 7.7 percent in 2024.
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Since 2018, FAFEN Reports pointed out that women’s registration has surpassed men’s registration, with 2.5 million more women registered than men. Of the 22.5 million new voters added, 12.5 million were women and 10 million were men. This has contributed to an overall decrease in the gender gap. The reduction in the gender gap in electoral rolls is universal across all regions, districts, and constituencies. The report, titled ‘GE-2024: Brief on Assessing Demographic and Gender Turnout Dynamics,’ provides an in-depth review of voter trends, including male and female participation, and draws comparisons with the previous general elections.
As many as 61,282,920 voters cast their ballots during GE-2024, which is the highest ever number of voters turning out to vote in any general election. Notwithstanding the highest-ever number of voters, the turnout dropped to 48 percent, as compared to 52 percent in 2018 as there was an unprecedented increase of 22.5 million voters in electoral rolls between the two elections.
Among many other firsts, the GE-2024 saw the registration of women voters surpassing that of men between 2018 and 2024. Among 22.5 million new voters, 12.5 million were women and 10 million men. This has led to narrowing down the gender gap on voter registration. Although the women’s turnout remained low (42.7 percent) than men’s turnout (51.8 percent), the gap between their turnouts narrowed from 10 percentage points in GE-2018 to nine percentage points in GE-2024.
The report also highlights a considerably higher voter turnout in predominantly rural constituencies (50.1 percent) as compared to largely urban constituencies (43.8 percent). Nearly twice as many voters from rural areas (40.6 million) cast their ballots compared to urban areas (20.5 million).
Reiterating its commitment to contributing to a more inclusive and participatory electoral process, FAFEN stresses the need for continuation of efforts to include all eligible voters specifically women and those belonging to marginalized sections of society, and voter education and mobilization efforts directed towards areas reporting lower voter turnout.
The total votes polled have shown a significant upward trend over successive elections. In the GE-2002, 30,012,407 votes were cast, increasing by 18 percent to 35,642,604 in the 2008 election. The votes polled accelerated in GE-2013, with a 32 percent rise to 46,919,180 votes. The upward trajectory continued in the 2018 elections, where votes increased by 17 percent to 54,736,972 followed by a more modest rise of 12 percent to 61,282,920 in 2024.
Overall, total votes polled rose significantly from 30,012,407 in GE-2002 to 61,282,920 in GE-2024. However, notwithstanding the increase in absolute numbers, voter turnout in the country has exhibited notable fluctuations across recent general elections. In GE-2002, the overall turnout stood at 41.7 percent, rising modestly to 44.4 percent in GE-2008 and peaking at 55.5 percent in 2013.
FAFEN’s Report indicates that In GE-2018 no votes were polled at 114 polling stations overall. Of these, three were exclusively male polling stations, 94 exclusively female polling stations, and 17 combined polling stations. The elections of 2024 saw an alarming increase in the number of such polling stations. An in-depth analysis of the polling stations with no votes cast in GE-2024 reveals that 464 stations recorded no female votes. Of these, 128 were exclusively female stations, while 336 were combined stations.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024