During the General Elections 2024, the Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-8 Bajaur was elected with 74,011 votes, which made up 39 percent of the 187,374 ballots cast, but only 11 percent of the 667,983 registered voters in the constituency.

According to the Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) for the constituency, the voter turnout was 28 percent. The runner-up candidate secured 25 percent of the total ballots cast; the third-placed candidate received 11 percent, while the remaining four candidates collectively secured 22 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 108,325 or 58 percent of them voted for other candidates, indicating they did not want the winner to represent them. As many as 5,038 votes were declared invalid in this constituency.

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.