Punjab recorded 34.05 million votes polled for the Provincial Assembly in the General Elections, 2018, against 60.67 million registered voters, for a turnout of 51.8%.
Punjab is Pakistan’s most populous province and holds the largest share of the national registered electorate. In all twelve general elections between 1970 and 2024, Punjab has accounted for more than half of all registered voters nationwide. Its electoral outcomes consequently carry decisive weight in determining the national composition of the National Assembly.
Punjab’s registered electorate comprised 33.68 million male voters (55.5%) and 26.99 million female voters (44.5%). The gender gap in voter registration in Punjab was 6.69 million, representing 11.0% of the province’s registered electorate.
Votes polled for the Punjab Assembly totalled 34.05 million, against a registered electorate of 60.67 million — producing a turnout of 51.8%. Punjab’s provincial assembly turnout has historically tracked closely with National Assembly turnout in the province, as the two elections are held concurrently on the same polling day.
The 2018 elections provide gender-disaggregated votes-polled data for the Punjab Assembly. Male voters in Punjab cast 19.95 million votes, recording a male turnout of 56.1% against Punjab’s male registered electorate. Female voters cast 14.17 million votes, amounting to a female turnout of 50.3%. The gender gap in Punjab Assembly turnout was 5.8 percentage points.
Rejected ballots in the Punjab Assembly election numbered 954,094 — 2.8% of total votes polled. The rejection rate in Punjab has ranged between 0.8% (1990 and 1993) and 3.1% (2008) across the twelve elections in this series.
Punjab’s high absolute voter population means that even marginal shifts in turnout translate to millions of additional or fewer votes. Between 1970 and 2024, Punjab’s registered electorate grew from 16.4 million to 73.2 million — a more than fourfold increase — reflecting both demographic growth and successive expansions of the voter roll. The number of votes polled for the Punjab Assembly rose correspondingly, from 10.2 million in 1970 to 37.7 million in 2024.
Across all twelve elections, Punjab’s highest Provincial Assembly turnout was 62.1% in 1970 and its lowest was 39.5% in 1997, illustrating the variation in participation rates across decades and political contexts.
