PTI may lose three seats, PML-N one for low women turnout

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) may lose three more National Assembly seats owing to low turn-out of female voters in the constituencies won by the party candidates. Overall, five constituencies have emerged where the women voter turn-out was less than the 10% threshold set by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to cancel the elections.

Under the Election Act, 2017, the ECP can cancel the elections in any constituency where female turn-out is less than 10%. PML-N’s Abadullah Khan, who won from NA-10, is also facing the risk of cancellation of election in his constituency.

The constituencies where elections may be cancelled include NA-10, NA- 39, NA-42, NA-44 and NA -48. In all these constituencies the turn out remained lower than 10 % according to statistics released by the ECP on Friday. In NA-39, female voter turn-out was lowest with just 3% participation from women.

In NA-42, won by PTI’s Sajid Khan, the turn-out was 6.33, in NA- 10, it was 7.88%, In NA-48 constituency where PTI’s Auregnzeb Khan won, the female turn-out was 8.19%, while in NA-44 won by independent Hamid-Ullah Afridi, it was 9.49 per cent.

“If the women voters turn-out is less than 10 per cent of the total votes polled in a constituency, the Commission may presume that the women voters have been restrained through an agreement from casting their votes and may declare, polling at one or more polling stations or election in the whole constituency, void,” reads section 9 of the Election Act 2017. When contacted by The News, ECP spokesperson Nadeem Qasim said the Commission has the power to cancel elections in the constituencies with less than 10% turn-out of women voters. However, he said, the commission will first probe the matter before its decision.

“If the women were stopped forcibly from voting in these constituencies then the election will be declared void,” he said.