ISLAMABAD: The country’s electoral rolls have swelled by almost 11 million since the last general elections, with the tribal areas registering the largest overall increase.

According to the latest statistics released by the Elec­tion Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on its website, there has been a 13pc increase in the number of voters across the country, which includes a 23pc increase in the number of registered voters from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), where people have been demanding the abolition of repressive British-era laws and the enforcement of the Constitution.

According to the ECP data as of Sept 1, 2017, the total number of registered voters in the country has increased to 97,021,554 (97 million) from 86,189,828 (86.1 million) in 2013, an increase of 10.8 million over the past four years.

Of them, 54,596,506 (54.6m) are men and 42,423,592 (42.4m) women, a 12pc and 13pc increase from 2013, respectively.

The data shows an unprecedented 36pc increase in the number of women voters in Fata, which is also the highest increase in any demographic across the country.

After Fata, the highest number of registered women voters in terms of percentage belong to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 14pc each, followed by Islamabad at 12pc, Balo­chistan at 10pc and Sindh at 9pc.

Fata has also witnessed the highest percentage increase in the number of male voters, with 17pc more men being added to the electoral list over the past four years.

Muddassir Rizvi of the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), attributes this phenomenal increase in the number of voters in Fata to the improved security situation in the area.

Mr Rizvi told Dawn a large number of people who had left their areas due to the military operations in the tribal areas, had started returning to their native lands.

He said the government had also announced compensation packages for those who were returning, and in order to receive this assistance, the people were required to possess computerised national identity cards. This, he said, was the main reason for the increase in the number of registered voters.

However, Mr Rizvi pointed out that despite an increase in the number of women voters, the deficit between men and women registered voters was constantly increasing, adding that the ratio of women’s registration was still not in accordance with the rate of increase in their population.

There are now 2,142,605 (2.1m) voters in Fata whereas the number of voters in 2013 was 1,738,316 (1.73m). The number of male voters in Fata has increased to 1,332,943 (1.3m) from 1,142,237 (1.1m). On the other hand, the number of registered women voters in Fata is now 809,645 (0.8m) as against 596,079 in 2013.

According to the provisional results of the recently-held population census put the country’s total population at over 207 million, which means that roughly 47pc of the population is eligible to exercise their right of franchise.

In addition, ECP has released data about the number of transgender individuals registered as voters for the first time. According to the figures, only 1,456 transgender individuals are registered to vote across the country. There are 1,000 transgender voters in Punjab, 281 in Sindh, 105 in KP, 50 in Balochistan, 17 in Fata and only three in Islamabad.

According to the latest census figures, the total number of transgender persons in the country is around 10,418, which shows that only 14pc of them are eligible to vote.

Sindh witnessed a nine per cent increase in its number of registered voters, the lowest increase of all. The latest data shows that there are 20,644,511 (20m) people enrolled as voters as compared to 18,963,377 (18.9m) four years ago. Out of these voters, 11,444,825 (11.4m) are men and 9,199,405 (9.2m) are women.

There has been 14 per cent increase in the number of registered voters in KP since 2013. The new number of registered voters stands at 14,016,426 (14m) as against 12,266,162 (12.22m) in 2013. The number of male and female voters stands at 8,007,100 (8m) and 6,009,221 (6m), respectively.

In Punjab, there has been 13pc increase in the number of voters. The number of registered voters in the most populous province is now 55,820,630 (55.8m). Out of these, 31,300,898 (31.3m) are men and 24,518,732 (24.5m) are women. There were 49,259,342 (49.6m) registered voters in the province when the last elections were held.

Balochistan, the country’s largest province in terms of area, and the Federal Area (Islamabad) both have witnessed an 11pc increase each in the number of registered voters.

The ECP data shows that there are 3,702,353 (3.7m) registered voters in Balochistan. This number was previously 3,336,662 (3.3m). The gender-wise breakup shows that there are 2,137,010 (2.1m) men and 1,565,293 (1.5m) women.

The number of voters in Islamabad has now reached 895,029 (0.8m) – 373,730 males and 321,296 females -- whereas 625,969 (0.6m) voters were entitled to cast their votes during the 2013 elections.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2017