Low voter turnout in youth cause of concern

The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) on Tuesday urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to consider low voter turnout in youth observed during the general elections held since 1988.

Citing estimated data on the youth voter turnout collected by Gallup Pakistan over the past eight general elections since 1988, PILDAT said that the youth voter turnout in the past elections happens to be just 31 per cent which is 13 percentage points lower than the average overall voter turnout in the elections.

Youth voter turnout is even lower than women voter turnout during the past two elections. Average Youth voter turnout estimates are a mere 31.5 per cent compared to 40 per cent for women voter turnout and 53 per cent for average national voter turnout during the last two elections in 2013 and 2018.

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“The ECP should undertake constituencies and province with breakdown for gender while carrying out estimation of total number of registered voters in the age group of 18 to 29 in the electoral rolls.”

“Designing and executing special campaigns aimed at educating youth about the importance of participation as a voter. Conducting multiple Exit Polls aimed that to ascertain the level of youth voter turnout in future general elections.”

“Amending the ECP Strategic Plan 2018-2023 to include strategic actions aimed at addressing the low youth voter turnout. Creating a dedicated wing or at least designating a focal person within the ECP to focus continuous attention on youth participation in electoral process.”

The data should be made public periodically at least on a yearly basis and conduct research focusing on Youth participation in electoral process to understand the reasons behind extra-ordinarily low youth voter turnout in the country.