During the General Elections 2024, the Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-54 Rawalpindi-III was elected with 85,930 votes, which comprised 36 percent of the 235,928 ballots cast, and accounted for only 18 percent of the 466,344 registered voters in the constituency.

According to the Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) of the constituency, the voter turnout stood at 51 percent. 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 144,774, or 61 percent of them, voted for other candidates, indicating they did not want the winner to represent them.

The runner-up candidate secured 31 percent of the ballots cast; the third-placed candidate received eight percent, while the remaining candidates collectively secured 22 percent of the votes. As many as 5,224 or two 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.