2024 Elections
ISLAMABAD: The 2024 general elections marked a significant shift in female voter participation, with women casting 24.4 million of the 58.9 million total votes.
This represents an increase of 2.7 million female voters since 2018, a substantial rise compared to the 1.6 million increase in male voters.
As a result, the share of female voters in both National Assembly and provincial assembly constituencies showed positive growth, rising from 39.4% in 2018 to 41.4% in 2024 in the National Assembly, and from 40% to 41.4% in provincial assemblies.
A report titled Women in Elections, launched by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) on Tuesday, highlighted these gains while noting a decline in voter turnout across regions for both genders, except in Islamabad.
Importantly, the gender gap in voter turnout narrowed, decreasing from 10 percentage points in 2018 to 9 points in 2024. This demonstrates a gradual improvement in female voter participation.
Over the last decade, female voter registration has made significant strides, closing the gender gap from 12.8% in 2013 to 7.7% in 2024. In the past five years, female voter registration outpaced male registration by 10 percentage points, with a 27% rise in female voters compared to a 17% rise in male voters.
Additionally, the number of women candidates in the 2024 elections increased drastically, with 902 women contesting elections, up from 465 in 2018. This surge in female candidates is an indication of growing political participation among women.
While these developments are promising, challenges remain. The overall voter gender gap in 2024 dropped below 10 million for the first time since the 2013 elections, standing at 9.9 million.
Of this gap, 74% is concentrated among women aged 18-35, reflecting under-registration in these age groups. Provinces like Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh have shown varying progress in narrowing the gender gap, with Balochistan still lagging behind in terms of narrowing constituencies with over a 10% gender gap.
Despite increased political participation, female representation in legislative bodies remains limited. Political parties continue to favor male candidates when awarding election tickets, which restricts female involvement in decision-making roles.
Moreover, female voter turnout was exceptionally low in some polling stations, with 230 polling stations in 51 National Assembly constituencies recording fewer than 10 female votes or no female votes at all.
Efforts initiated under the Elections Act 2017 have played a pivotal role in improving female voter registration and narrowing the gender gap.
However, the path to achieving full gender equality in the electoral process is still a work in progress, requiring continued reforms and increased female political participation.
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