ISLAMABAD: While observing the National Voters Day, an in-depth analysis of the voters’ participation in the General Election 2024 was revealed by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) on Sunday.
The Fafen report ‘GE-2024: Brief on Assessing Demographic and Gender Turnout Dynamics‘ does not only draw comparisons with the past general elections but also provides an elaborate review of voter trends, including men and women participation, The News reported.
The highest number of voter turnout in any general election was witnessed in GE-2024 — 61,282,920 or 61.28 million voters, the report revealed.
However, the most number of voter turnout percentage-wise dropped to 48% during this election comparing to 52% in 2018, despite electoral rolls boosted by an unprecedented 22.5 million voters between these two polls.
The gender gap on voter registration narrowed during GE-2024 as the number of new female voters surpassed that of new men voters between 2018 and 2024 since 12.5 million new voters out of 22.5 million total were women while 10 million were men.
Whilst the female turnout stayed at 42.7% which is lower than men’s turnout of 51.8%. The gap between the two genders though shrank from 10 percentage points in GE-2018 to nine percentage points in GE-2024.
The report also highlights a considerably higher voter turnout in predominantly rural constituencies (50.1 %) as compared to largely urban constituencies (43.8 %). Nearly twice as many voters from rural areas (40.6 million) cast their ballots compared to urban areas (20.5 million).
The total votes polled have shown a significant upward trend over successive elections. In the GE-2002, 30,012,407 votes were cast, increasing by 18 % to 35,642,604 in the 2008 election. The votes polled accelerated in GE-2013, with a 32 % rise.
The upward trajectory continued in the 2018 elections, where votes increased by 17 % to 54,736,972 followed by a more modest rise of 12 % to 61,282,920 in 2024. Overall, total votes polled rose significantly from 30,012,407 in GE-2002 to 61,282,920 in GE-2024. However, notwithstanding the increase in absolute numbers, voter turnout in the country has exhibited notable fluctuations across recent general elections.
In GE-2002, the overall turnout stood at 41.7 %, rising modestly to 44.4 % in GE-2008 and peaking at 55.5 % in 2013. The gender-wise distribution of votes polled in the general elections of 2018 and 2024 reveals significant trends in voter participation.
Male voters cast 32.9 million votes in GE-2018, accounting for 60.2 % of total votes polled in the election. Whereas the number of men votes polled increased to 34.5 million in GE-2024, their share in total votes polled declined to 58.6 %, indicating a relative decline in their proportional dominance. Female voters, on the other hand, polled 21.7 million votes in GE-2018 (39.8 %) and significantly increased their participation to 24.4 million votes in GE-2024, raising their share to 41.4 %.
Consequently, the gender gap in votes polled narrowed from 11,193,695 (20.4 %) in GE-2018 to 10,119,543 (16.5 %) in GE-2024 leading to a 1.1 million decline in absolute terms.
Even though there has been a reduction in the gender gap in votes polled — falling by 4% — this narrowing gap has not offset the overall decline in voter turnout. In GE-2018, male voter turnout was 56.1 %, which dropped to 51.8 % in GE-2024, while female turnout was consistently lower, declining from 46.9 % in GE-2018 to 42.7 % in GE-2024.
This trend indicates a reduction in overall voter engagement across genders, with turnout figures reflecting the ongoing disparity in male and female participation. While the smaller gender gap in votes polled slightly balanced the proportions, the lower turnout for women continues to affect total turnout levels.