During the General Elections 2024, the Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-39 Bannu was elected with 146,667 votes, which made up 51 percent of the 285,505 ballots cast, but only 20 percent of the 723,459 registered voters in the constituency.

According to the Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) of the constituency, the voter turnout stood at 39 percent. NA-39 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, 131,591 or 46 percent, did not vote for the winner. Moreover, the share of the winner among the total registered voters also remained only 20 percent.

The runner-up candidate secured 39 percent of the ballots cast; the third-placed candidate received 2 percent, while the remaining candidates collectively secured five percent of the votes. As many as 7,247 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.