Three of the 45 National Assembly (NA) constituencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) recorded a voter registration gender gap exceeding the legally permissible threshold of 10 percent, according to the constituency-wise electoral rolls published by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on 3 February 2026.
During the 2018 General Elections, 30 NA constituencies recorded a gender gap in voter registration exceeding 10 percent. This accounted for approximately 11 percent of all NA constituencies nationwide and 66.7 percent of those allocated to the province.
Read FAFEN’s story: Sindh Still Has 10 Constituencies Above 10% Threshold
By the time of the 2024 General Elections, the number of such constituencies had declined from 30 to 10, representing 3.8 percent of all NA constituencies and 22.2 percent of the total NA constituencies in the province.
More recent voter statistics released in February 2026 indicate further improvement and reflect a continuing trend toward greater gender balance in voter registration. However, the fact that three constituencies remain above the legal threshold suggests that structural and sociocultural barriers to female voter registration persist in certain parts of the country.
Read FAFEN’s story: Gender-Gap Exceeds Legal Limit in 23 NA Constituencies
What the Elections Act Requires
The continued presence of a gap of this magnitude nonetheless highlights the need for sustained institutional action. Section 47(1) of the Elections Act, 2017 requires the ECP to publish annual disaggregated data on registered male and female voters in each constituency and to highlight the difference in their numbers. Under Section 47(2), the Commission must adopt special measures in any constituency where this difference exceeds 10 percent, including actions aimed at reducing the variation.
Section 47(3) further specifies that these measures should include action by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to expedite the issuance of National Identity Cards (NICs) for women in affected constituencies, and by the ECP to enroll them as voters in the relevant electoral areas. This provision establishes a clear and shared institutional responsibility for both NADRA and the ECP to address the gender gap wherever it crosses the legal threshold.
These measures include targeted voter registration campaigns, NIC facilitation drives, and community-level outreach initiatives to address the barriers that continue to limit women’s registration. Consistent implementation of these provisions is essential to ensure that the downward trend in the gender gap is sustained and accelerated in the electoral rolls ahead of the next general elections.
Read FAFEN’s Story: 54% of Pakistan’s Population Is Registered as Voters
Suggested Readings
- National gender gap in electoral rolls narrows to 6.98%
- Punjab’s gender gap in voter registration narrows to 8%
- Sindh’s gender gap in voter registration declines to 7.7%
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa records marginal decline in gender gap among voters
- Gender gap among voters increases in Balochistan
- ICT Gender Gap: Number Up, Percentage Down
