Highest number of voters took part in 2024 general election: Fafen

ISLAMABAD: The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) on Sunday released a detailed analysis of the voters’ participation in the General Election 2024 as part of its celebration of National Voters Day.

The report, titled ‘GE-2024: Brief on Assessing Demographic and Gender Turnout Dynamics,’ provides an in-depth review of voter trends, including male and female participation, and draws comparisons with the previous general elections.

As many as 61,282,920 voters cast their ballots during GE-2024, which is the highest-ever number of voters turning out to vote in any general election.

Notwithstanding the highest-ever number of voters, the turnout dropped to 48 percent, as compared to 52 percent in 2018 as there was an unprecedented increase of 22.5 million voters in electoral rolls between the two elections.

The GE-2024 saw the registration of women voters surpassing that of men between 2018 and 2024. Among 22.5 million new voters, 12.5 million were women and 10 million men. This has led to narrowing down the gender gap on voter registration. Although the women’s turnout remained low (42.7 percent) than men’s turnout (51.8 percent), the gap between their turnouts narrowed from 10 percentage points in GE-2018 to nine percentage points in GE-2024.

The report also highlights a considerably higher voter turnout in predominantly rural constituencies (50.1 percent) as compared to largely urban constituencies (43.8 percent). Nearly twice as many voters from rural areas (40.6 million) cast their ballots compared to urban areas (20.5 million).

The total votes polled have shown a significant upward trend over successive elections. In the GE-2002, 30,012,407 votes were cast, increasing by 18 percent to 35,642,604 in the 2008 election. The votes polled accelerated in GE-2013, with a 32 percent rise.

The upward trajectory continued in the 2018 elections, where votes increased by 17 percent to 54,736,972 followed by a more modest rise of 12 percent to 61,282,920 in 2024. Overall, total votes polled rose significantly from 30,012,407 in GE-2002 to 61,282,920 in GE-2024. However, notwithstanding the increase in absolute numbers, voter turnout in the country has exhibited notable fluctuations across recent general elections.

In GE-2002, the overall turnout stood at 41.7 percent, rising modestly to 44.4 percent in GE-2008 and peaking at 55.5 percent in 2013. The gender-wise distribution of votes polled in the general elections of 2018 and 2024 reveals significant trends in voter participation.

Male voters cast 32.9 million votes in GE-2018, accounting for 60.2 percent of total votes polled in the election. Whereas the number of votes polled increased to 34.5 million in GE-2024, their share in total votes polled declined to 58.6 percent, indicating a relative decline in their proportional dominance. Female voters, on the other hand, polled 21.7 million votes in GE-2018 (39.8 percent) and significantly increased their participation to 24.4 million votes in GE-2024, raising their share to 41.4 percent.

Consequently, the gender gap in votes polled narrowed from 11,193,695 (20.4 percent) in GE-2018 to 10,119,543(16.5 percent) in GE-2024 leading to a 1.1 million decline in absolute terms.

Even though there has been a reduction in the gender gap in votes polled—falling by four percent—this narrowing gap has not offset the overall decline in voter turnout. In GE-2018, male voter turnout was 56.1 percent, which dropped to 51.8 percent in GE-2024, while female turnout was consistently lower, declining from 46.9 percent in GE-2018 to 42.7 percent in GE-2024.

This trend indicates a reduction in overall voter engagement across genders, with turnout figures reflecting the ongoing disparity in male and female participation. While the smaller gender gap in votes polled slightly balanced the proportions, the lower turnout for women continues to affect total turnout levels.