Senate elections can coincide with periods of political turbulence in the National and Provincial Assemblies leading to vacancies in the electoral college due to disqualifications, resignations, or deaths. A legitimate concern is whether the loss of Assembly members reduces the validity of the Senate election’s outcome. Section 130 of the Elections Act 2017 addresses this directly.
What does the law say?
Section 130 of the Elections Act 2017 provides that a vacancy in the electoral college — that is, in the Assembly membership that constitutes the Senate electorate —shall not affect the validity of the election.
 Why does this matter?
This provision creates some stability as a few seats have almost always been vacant in the Assemblies during recent years. Notwithstanding this provision, the Election Commission can exercise its constitutional and legal powers to withhold the elections in case of significant shortfall in the electoral college as it did in the case of 2024 Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to incomplete electoral college.
 Source: Elections Act 2017, Section 130.
This post is part of FAFEN’s series on electoral literacy. Read more of this series here.
