Over 10pc women voters cast ballots in KP by-poll: ECP

PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that over 10 per cent women voters participated in the recent by-election.

It said that the highest voter turnout in recorded in Dera Ismail Khan which was put at 33 per cent. The Elections Act 2017 requires the ECP to declare an election null and void if the women's turnout in a constituency is less than 10 per cent of its total polled votes.

It is worth mentioning here that the ECP had ordered re-polling in Shangla after less than 10 per cent women voted in the constituency during the general election. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s Shaukat Yusufzai won the seat for both the times.

The by-elections for one National Assembly and nine provincial assembly constituencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were held on October 14. The by-polls were held in six districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The constituencies included PK-3 and PK-7 of Swat, PK-44 Swabi, PK-53 Mardan, PK-61 and PK-64 of Nowshera, PK-78 Peshawar, PK-97 and PK-99 of Dera Ismail Khan.

The elections for two provincial assembly constituencies PK-78 Peshawar and PK-99 Dera Ismail Khan were postponed after the martyrdom of Awami National Party candidate Haroon Bashir Bilour and PTI contestant Ikramullah Gandapur in separate terrorist attacks before the July 25.

The remaining seats were vacated by those candidates who had won two or more than two seats in the last general election. According to the ECP, there were 64,317 registered women voters in the PK-3 Swat constituency. Of them, 9,727 polled their vote. The turnout was 15.124 per cent.

Similarly, in PK-7 Swat, 66,771 female voters were registered while only 6,780 voters cast her vote and turnout was 10.154 per cent. In the PK-44 (Swabi), total women registered voters were 89,208. Up to 10,543 of them voted, putting the turnout at 11.818 per cent.

A total of 64,867 female's voters were registered in PK-53 Mardan. Only 11,029 of them cast vote in the by-poll. This made the turnout 17.002 per cent. Similarly, in PK-61 Nowshera, there were 70,982 women voters. Up to 9,558 women exercised their right to vote. The turnout remained 13.465 per cent.

In PK 64 Nowshera, as many as 56,682 female voters were registered. Up to 6,197 voted and the turnout was 10.933 per cent. There were 74,007 women voters in PK-78 in Peshawar. A total of 9,085 voted. The overall turnout was 12.276 per cent.

Up to 69,974 women's voters were registered in PK-97 Dera Ismail Khan while only 7,803 women cast vote. The turnout was 11.151 per cent. Similarly, in PK-99 Dera Ismail Khan, the women registered voters were 66,400. Of them 22,062 cast votes. The turnout was 33.226 per cent.