Women voting

While controversy and intrigue continue to surround the recent elections, there was at least one universally commendable finding — a notable rise in women voting in several constituencies. This includes several ultra-conservative areas where recent election results in different constituencies were actually voided due to low female participation. Although the 10% female turnout requirement is being credited with helping improve women’s participation, places like Lower Dir, despite being considered conservative, had already been clearing that figure — over one-third of all women voters showed up in 2018. Although that number is relatively low, it is actually a higher percentage than 2024, when about 31.6% voted. However, given that some recent local bodies elections in Lower Dir were cancelled due to low turnout, it was welcome news that well over 100,000 women voted in the region earlier this month.

Credit must be given to the decision to set up women-only polling stations, addressing a common complaint from conservative communities, especially women who observe strict purdah. On the other hand ‘credit’ must also be given to ‘elders’ in several areas who actively blocked women voting, but now encourage some women to vote to ensure poll results are not nullified. Reports from 2018 noted that in several conservative areas, some candidates, especially landlords with large workforces on their farms, gamed the system to ensure 10% female participation and no more, just to ensure that the results stand.

Unfortunately, just the fact that women showed up to vote is meaningless if their votes were not cast freely. Several reports in traditional and new media suggest that women continue to vote for whoever their husbands or village elders tell them to, rather than the candidate whose policies they agree to. The right to vote does not merely entail putting a piece of paper in a box. It is the right to choose who we — not our parents, spouses, siblings or bosses — think is the best choice to represent us.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2024.

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