Voter turnout in Pakistan's 2024 elections falls to 48%: FAFEN report

Report shows that 61,282,920 voters cast their ballots, marking the highest number of voters in any general election

The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has released a comprehensive analysis of voter participation in Pakistan’s 2024 general elections, revealing a slight decrease in voter turnout compared to the previous election in 2018.

The report, published on National Voters Day, shows that 61,282,920 voters cast their ballots, marking the highest number of voters in any general election. However, the turnout was 48%, down from 52% in 2018.

The ‘GE-2024: Brief on Assessing Demographic and Gender Turnout Dynamics’ report highlighted trends in voter participation, including a notable shift in gender dynamics.

Among the 22.5 million new voters added to the electoral rolls since 2018, 12.5 million were women and 10 million were men. This led to a narrowing of the gender gap in voter registration.

“Despite the increase in the number of voters, the voter turnout fell short, particularly among women,” FAFEN noted in its findings. Women’s turnout stood at 42.7%, while men’s turnout was higher at 51.8%, with the gender gap in turnout decreasing slightly from 10 percentage points in 2018 to 9 percentage points in 2024.

Report further highlighted that the rural constituencies saw a higher voter turnout, with 50.1% of voters casting ballots, compared to 43.8% in urban constituencies. The total number of voters from rural areas was nearly double that of urban areas, with 40.6 million rural voters compared to 20.5 million from urban regions.

FAFEN called for continued efforts to encourage voter inclusion, especially among women and marginalised groups, while also emphasising the need for greater voter education in areas with lower participation.

"Efforts must be sustained to engage all eligible voters, particularly women and those in underserved communities, to ensure an inclusive and participatory electoral process," the report stressed.