During the General Elections 2024, the Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-19 Swabi-I was elected with 115,719 votes, which made up 52 percent of the 221,010 ballots cast, and only 21 percent of the 551,691 registered voters in the constituency.
According to the Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) of the constituency, the voter turnout stood at 40 percent. The runner-up candidate secured 21 percent of the ballots cast; the third-placed candidate received 11 percent, while the remaining candidates collectively secured 12 percent votes.
NA-19 was among 70 out of 265 National Assembly constituencies where the winner could secure a majority of the polled votes. However, the share of the winner’s votes among registered voters remained small. Around 44 percent of the voters did not vote for the winner, while four percent of ballots were declared invalid, meaning they did not go to any candidate.
This story is part of FAFEN’s constituency-wise analysis on the unrepresentativeness of Pakistan’s electoral outcomes. The series highlights how the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system can skew representation in multi-candidate electoral contests of Pakistan, where three or more contenders are common. In such contests, a majority of voters may feel unrepresented and raise questions about the legitimacy, which may potentially contribute to political instability.
Stay tuned to the FAFEN website to read the story of your constituency.
Explore more stories from the series here.
