During the General Elections 2024, the Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-27 Khyber was elected with 85,647 votes, which made up 61 percent of the 140,128 ballots cast, but only 13 percent of the 637,449 registered voters in the constituency.

According to the Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) of the constituency, the voter turnout stood at 22 percent.

NA-27 was among 70 out of 266 National Assembly constituencies where the winner could secure 50 percent or more of the polled votes. Still, a significant portion of voters, 50,318 or 36 percent, did not vote for the winner. Moreover, the share of the winner among the total registered voters remained only 13 percent.

The runner-up candidate secured 14 percent of the ballots cast; the third-placed candidate received 11 percent, while the remaining candidates collectively secured 12 percent votes. As many as 4,163 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.