Over 8m more voters took part in polls: Fafen

ISLAMABAD: As many as 8.45 million more voters turned out to vote in July 25, 2018 general election, as compared to the general election 2013, indicating an abiding commitment and interest of citizens to exercise their right to choose their government representatives.

Although national voter turnout decreased marginally from 53.62 per cent in 2013 to 51.99 per cent in the recent election, says the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen).

The significant increase in the number of voters is primarily due to an unprecedented increase in voter registration between the two general elections – from 86.18 million in 2013 to 105.96 million in 2018. The increase in the number of registered voters in the five years between the 2013 and 2018 elections (19.77 million) was more than the increase in the 10 years between the 2002 and 2013 elections (14.27 million).

Similarly, between polls in 2002 and 2008, only 8.88 million were added to the electoral rolls, and between polls in 2008 and 2013, the voter population increased by a mere 5.39 million.

The remarkable growth in registered voters for July 25 may be explained by a heightened emphasis on voter registration following the enactment of the Elections Act, 2017. Sections 12(c), 47 and 48 of the Act require the Election Commission of Pakistan to facilitate maximum voter enrolment, especially by women. ECP’s Gender and Disability Group, District Voter Education Committees (DVECs) and synergies with civil society were among the key factors in augmenting the GE-2018 electoral rolls.

As per provincial voter turnout trends, during the recent elections, almost 5.17 million more voters turned out in Punjab, 1.81 million more in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) including Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 0.77 million more in Sindh, 0.64 million in Balochistan and 55,851 more in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) as compared to GE-2013. Additional data is presented in later sections of this report.

It may be pointed out that general election 2018 was the first in the country’s history for which gender-disaggregated voter turnout was recorded at the polling station level, in compliance with the provisions of Section 91 of the Elections Act, 2017.