Thar women record highest turnout in country's electoral history

Thar women achieved a milestone in the country's electoral history in General Election 2018, recording highest turnout of almost over 70 per cent in two constituencies. 

According to Election Commission of Pakistan, NA-221 and NA-222 constituencies in Sindh's Thar district recorded a high number of votes despite being underprivileged areas. 

Lack of paved roads, transportation and communication facilities in many areas of the desert region, as well as the extremely hot July weather, could not deter peoples' resolve to contribute to the national democratic process.

In NA-221 Tharparkar-I, the turnout ratio was 68.6 per cent with 72.83pc of female voters and 65.39pc of male voters showing up to vote. A total of 166,527 votes were cast here of which 9,341 were rejected. The ratio of women who came out to vote in NA-221 is the highest anywhere in Pakistan.

In NA-222 Tharparkar-II, the turnout ratio was 70.91pc with 71.40pc of the female voters and 70.51pc of male voters turning out to vote. Here, a total of 235,340 votes were cast out of which 12,763 votes were rejected on various accounts.

The rain-dependent region of Thar has a population of 1.6 million, of whom 574,333 are registered voters. These include 254,522 women voters.