Pakistan’s voter turnout decline: Why more women registered, but fewer cast ballots in 2024

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · May 24, 2026 · 812 words · By Adnan Skhawat Ali; Elizabeth Goodyear-Grant

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Pakistan’s voter turnout decline: Why more women registered, but fewer cast ballots in 2024

The article discusses the disparity between the increase in registered women voters in Pakistan and the overall decline in voter turnout during the 2024 general elections. It attributes this gap to structural social barriers, patriarchal norms, and a volatile political and economic environment.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 7

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Pakistan has made measurable progress in reducing the gender gap in voter registration.

Why it matters

More women are now listed on electoral rolls than ever before.

Common ground

Yet this administrative success masks a troubling democratic reality: while the number of registered women voters increased significantly before the 2024 general elections, overall voter turnout declined from 52.1 per cent in 2018 to 47.6 per cent in 2024.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Pakistan’s voter turnout decline: Why more women registered, but fewer cast ballots in 2024?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Pakistan’s electoral rolls for the 2024 general elections included approximately 128.6 million registered voters?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/pakistans-voter-turnout-decline-why-more-women-regis…

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 7 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 7

info

Claim 1: “According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Pakistan’s electoral rolls for the 2024 general elections included approximately 128.6 million registered voters.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim contains results for Nepal, Tamil Nadu, and general election trends for 2026, but no mention of the ECP's 128.6 million registered voters for 2024.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — General Election to Assembly Constituencies: Trends & Results May-2026.
https://results.eci.gov.in/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Election Commission Logo. नयाँ दर्ता.मतदाता नामावली खोज्नुहोस्. Voter Search Example.
https://applyvr.election.gov.np/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Interactive data dashboard for Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2026. Explore alliances, candidates, constituencies, elector statistics, and election results.
https://tnelections2026.in/results

info

Claim 2: “The ECP exercised this authority following the 2018 general elections, when it annulled the results in Shangla and North Waziristan due to female voter turnout falling below the legal threshold and ordered fresh polls.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence consists of dictionary definitions and a movie description for the word 'Following', with no information regarding the ECP, Shangla, or North Waziristan.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Following is a 1998 British independent neo-noir crime thriller film written, produced, directed, photographed, and edited by Christopher Nolan in his feature film directorial debut. Using a non-linea…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Following

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 6 days ago · The meaning of FOLLOWING is being next in order or time. How to use following in a sentence.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/following

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — FOLLOWING definition: 1. after: 2. The following day, morning, etc. is the next one. 3. a wind that is blowing in the…. Learn more.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/followin…

info

Claim 3: “Of these, around 69.3 million were men and 59.3 million were women.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence includes general Wikipedia info on the 2024 election and data for South Africa and India, but does not provide the specific gender breakdown of registered voters in Pakistan.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — General elections, originally scheduled to be held in 2023, were held in Pakistan on 8 February 2024 to elect the members of the 16th National Assembly. The Election Commission of Pakistan announced t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Pakistani_general_electio…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — As of April 2024, almost ** million citizens registered to vote in the South African general elections.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1440283/number-of-regist…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — With 969 million eligible voters, India's 2024 general election has been the largest ever seen.It was founded in 1998 and is currently in power in India. Graph showing which parties hold how many seat…
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-68678594

info

Claim 4: “Under provisions of the 2017 Elections Act, the ECP has the authority to declare polling or even an entire election in a constituency void if women are prevented from voting.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence consists of general calendar and historical information for the year 2017, with no mention of the Elections Act or ECP authority regarding female voter turnout.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 2017 (MMXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2017th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 17th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — United States 2017 – Calendar with American holidays. Yearly calendar showing months for the year 2017. Calendars – online and print friendly – for any year and month
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=2017&country=1

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Apr 19, 2015 · Historical events from year 2017. Learn about 809 famous, scandalous and important events that happened in 2017 or search by date or keyword.
https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/2017

info

Claim 5: “overall voter turnout declined from 52.1 per cent in 2018 to 47.6 per cent in 2024”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only one provided web search result ('Unveiling Terrorist Influence: The Case of Pakistan's 2024 General...') explicitly mentions the turnout decline from 52.1% in 2018 to 47.6% in 2024. Other results are irrelevant.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Apr 15, 2024 ... A complex interplay of social, cultural, and economic factors have kept an estimated 3.5 million Pakistani women out of the voter rolls.
https://www.theigc.org/blogs/gender-equality/where-are-women…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — This paper explores the pivotal role of social media in shaping voting patterns by implementing Stimulus Organism Response psychological theory. In Pakistan ...
https://ojs.ahss.org.pk/journal/article/download/650/692/115…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Apr 15, 2024 ... ... 52.1% in 2018 to 47.6% this year. This Insight analyses the modus ... Militant groups in Pakistan began issuing anti-election propaganda when talk ...
https://gnet-research.org/2024/04/15/unveiling-terrorist-inf…

info

Claim 6: “between 2018 and 2024, the number of registered women voters increased by more than 12 million.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence discusses women's voting patterns and general election dates, but does not provide the specific calculation or confirmation of a 12 million increase in registered women voters.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — General elections, originally scheduled to be held in 2023, were held in Pakistan on 8 February 2024 to elect the members of the 16th National Assembly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Pakistani_general_electio…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Why did ten million fewer women vote in this year's general election in Pakistan? DR MONA MORGAN-COLLINS discusses the reasons for the reduced turnout and ...
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/looking-back-at-2024-election-in-pakis…

info

Claim 7: “about 105.9 million voters registered for the 2018 general elections, including nearly 46.7 million women voters.”

SINGLE SOURCE

One source (DW Blogs) explicitly confirms there were 46.7 million registered female voters according to ECP data. However, the total registration of 105.9 million is not explicitly confirmed in the snippets provided.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Aug 9, 2018 ... According to data published by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), there were 46.7 million registered female voters out of a total of ...
https://blogs.dw.com/womentalkonline/index.html?p=29879.html

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Nov 20, 2024 ... According to ECP figures,.... Percent of registered voters are female in Pakistan. A.40% B.48% C.55% D.44%
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2426748277645913/posts/39388…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Aug 12, 2025 ... What progress has been made against the 2018 IOC Gender. Equality Review Project? (See 2018 Olympic & Paralympic. Report recommendations and ...
https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/20…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.