During the General Elections 2024, the Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-31 Peshawar-IV was elected with 82,985 votes, which made up 57 percent of the 146,192 ballots cast, but only 21 percent of the 399,278 registered voters in the constituency.
According to the Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) of the constituency, the voter turnout stood at 37 percent. NA-31 was among 70 out of 266 National Assembly constituencies where the winner could secure 50 percent or more of the polled votes. Still, a sizeable chunk of the voters, 60,093 or 41 percent, did not vote for the winner. Moreover, the share of the winner among the total registered voters also remained only 21 percent.
The runner-up candidate secured 15 percent of the ballots cast; the third-placed candidate received 10 percent, while the remaining candidates collectively secured 16 percent of the votes. As many as 3,114 or two percent of the total ballots were declared invalid, meaning they did not go to any candidate.
This story is part of FAFEN’s constituency-wise analysis on the unrepresentativeness of Pakistan’s electoral outcomes. The series highlights how the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system can skew representation in multi-candidate electoral contests of Pakistan, where three or more contenders are common. In such contests, a majority of voters may feel unrepresented and raise questions about the legitimacy, which may potentially contribute to political instability.
Stay tuned to the FAFEN website to read the story of your constituency.
Explore more stories from the series here.
