The 2018 National Assembly election recorded 1,705,348 rejected votes out of 54,834,686 polled, a rate of 3.11%. Nationwide, 3,444,201 ballots were rejected across all assemblies. Balochistan sustained its above-five-percent rejection rate for a second consecutive election at 5.18%, and Sindh remained above four percent at 4.13%. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s rate rose to 3.68%, while Punjab recorded the lowest provincial rate at 2.80%.
Election Context: 2018
Pakistan’s 2018 general elections were held on 25 July 2018 under the Elections Act 2017 — the first major legislative consolidation of Pakistan’s electoral framework. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf secured the largest number of National Assembly seats and formed the federal government. FAFEN deployed observers across all four provinces. The persistence of elevated rejection rates in Balochistan — above five percent in both 2013 and 2018 — and Sindh — above four percent in both elections — documents a sustained provincial pattern that voter education and polling staff training programmes had not resolved by the time of the 2018 poll.
Breakdown — Rejected Ballots
| Assembly | Rejected Ballots | Rejection Rate |
| National Assembly Election | 1,705,348 | 3.11% |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Election | 253,103 | 3.68% |
| Punjab Assembly Election | 954,094 | 2.80% |
| Sindh Assembly Election | 431,993 | 4.13% |
| Balochistan Assembly Election | 99,663 | 5.18% |
Source: TDEA–FAFEN compiled dataset from Election Commission of Pakistan records.
What Is a Rejected Ballot?
A rejected ballot is a ballot paper excluded from the vote count. Polling staff identify and set aside such ballots during the counting process at the polling station. The Returning Officer (RO) then reviews these determinations during the consolidation of results, and the ballot is formally rejected only after that scrutiny. Pakistani electoral procedure specifies four grounds for rejection: the ballot does not bear the presiding officer’s official stamp and signature; it carries any mark or writing beyond the Assistant Presiding Officer’s (APO) official seal and signature; an extraneous paper or material is attached to it; or the voting mark falls simultaneously in the boxes of two candidates in a way that makes it impossible to determine which candidate the voter intended to select.
Rejection does not automatically indicate fraud or deliberate misconduct. Voter error — including accidental double-marking or stamps placed outside the designated box — accounts for a documented share of rejections in every election.
