The 2024 National Assembly election recorded 1,768,471 rejected votes out of 61,282,920 polled — a rate of 2.89%, lower than in 2013 and 2018 despite a higher absolute total. Nationwide across all assemblies, 3,611,145 ballots were rejected, the highest combined figure in any Pakistani general election on record. Punjab had the largest absolute provincial total at 1,091,111 rejected ballots, while Balochistan recorded the highest provincial percentage rate at 4.04%. Sindh stood at 3.44% and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 2.97%.
Election Context: 2024
Pakistan’s 2024 general elections were held on 8 February 2024. They were the most contested elections in recent memory, marked by the withdrawal of the electoral symbol from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the imprisonment of PTI’s founder, and a communications blackout on election day. Total votes polled for the National Assembly reached 61.3 million — the highest in Pakistan’s electoral history. The 3,611,145 combined rejected ballots across all assemblies set a new absolute record. Despite this, the National Assembly’s percentage rejection rate of 2.89% was lower than in 2013 and 2018, indicating that growth in absolute rejections is substantially driven by the overall expansion of the electorate rather than a deterioration in ballot management alone.
Breakdown — Rejected Ballots
| Assembly | Rejected Ballots | Rejection Rate |
| National Assembly Election | 1,768,471 | 2.89% |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Election | 251,939 | 2.97% |
| Punjab Assembly Election | 1,091,111 | 2.90% |
| Sindh Assembly Election | 403,519 | 3.44% |
| Balochistan Assembly Election | 96,105 | 4.04% |
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.
