During the General Elections 2024, the Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-13 Battagram was elected with 32,647 votes, which made up 34 percent of the 94,999 ballots cast, and only 10 percent of the 328,902 registered voters in the constituency.

According to the Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) of the constituency, the voter turnout stood at 29 percent. The runner-up candidate secured 23 percent of the ballots cast, the third-placed candidate received 19 percent, while the remaining eight candidates collectively secured 20 percent votes.

Despite the victory, the winner did not have the support of the majority of voters who exercised their right to vote on February 8, 2024, as 58,897 or 62 percent of them voted for other candidates, indicating they did not want the winner to represent them. As many as 3,455 ballots (four percent) 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.