During the General Elections 2024, the Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-66 Wazirabad was elected with 160,850 votes, which made up 51 percent of the 313,767 ballots cast, but accounted for only 25 percent of the 646,872 registered voters in the constituency.
According to the Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) of the constituency, the voter turnout stood at 49 percent. NA-66 was among 70 out of 266 National Assembly constituencies where the winner could secure 50 percent or more of the polled votes. Still, a sizeable chunk of the voters, 143,728 or 46 percent, did not vote for the winner. Moreover, the share of the winner among the total registered voters remained only 25 percent.
The runner-up candidate secured 32 percent of the ballots cast; the third-placed candidate received six percent, while the remaining candidates collectively secured eight percent of the votes. As many as 9,189, or three percent of the total 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.
