Women's voting choices differed from men in 18% communities during 2024 polls: report

Female voters in 18% of communities in the jurisdiction of male and female polling stations voted differently from their male counterparts in National Assembly constituencies during the 2024 general elections, Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) stated in its report on Sunday.

The non-government poll observer issued its fresh report, "Women's Voting Choices: Significance & Impact on Electoral Outcomes", pertaining to the 2024 nationwide polls today.

It compared the results of male and female polling stations in the same communities, finding that in 82% of the communities, male and female voters' choice of winner was aligned as they returned the same winner from their respective polling stations.

Since election results of combined polling stations do not provide a gender-wise breakdown of how male and female voters vote, Fafen's assessment could only compare the results of male and female polling stations.

Furthermore, it has limited its scope to male and female polling stations where men and women from the same electoral areas voted. The assessment includes 21,188 communities comprising 42,804 comparable male and female polling stations.

The the aforementioned portion of the communities, male and female voters diverged in their choice of winner as they returned different winners from their respective polling stations.

Compared to rural areas, communities in urban areas showed more divergent choices among male and female voters.

Among regions, Islamabad had the highest proportion (37%) of electoral communities with different winners in male and female polling stations.

Balochistan had the second-highest proportion (32%) followed by Sindh (19%) and Punjab (18%), while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had the lowest proportion (13%) of such electoral communities.

Of the 3,884 communities where women's choice of winner for the lower house seats was different, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won more support from women in 1,260 communities, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in 1,027 and Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) in 694 communities.

Regional trends showed that while the PTI performed well across the country in terms of women voters' choice, the PML-N remained strong in Punjab, and the PPPP dominated in Sindh.

In 37 NA constituencies, the largest proportion of voters in female polling stations did not vote for the winning candidates.

In 226 NA constituencies, the largest proportion of voters in female polling stations voted for the constituency winner. In 166 of those NA constituencies, compared to voters in male polling stations, a larger proportion of voters in female polling stations polled for the winner.

In seven constituencies – NA-43 Tank-cum-Dera Ismail Khan, NA-49 Attock-I, NA-55 Rawalpindi-IV, NA-87 Khushab-I, NA-94 Chiniot-II, NA-128 Lahore-XII and NA-163 Bahawalnagar-IV –, the lead at female polling stations determined the winner.

In NA-43 Tank-cum-Dera Ismail Khan, the Imran Khan-founded party narrowly won edging out Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) by 555 votes. A PTI-backed candidate garnered a lead of 1,430 votes at female polling stations alone, a margin that decisively affected the overall outcome, the report concluded.