ISLAMABAD: As the number of registered voters climbs to 119 million, as many as 81 of the total 133 districts across the country have a gender gap of over 10 per cent.

A thorough analysis of the latest data of voters exclusively available with Dawn reveals that all but five districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are on the list. Twenty-eight out of 34 districts of KP, including capital Peshawar, are on the list of areas with variation between male and female voters exceeding 10pc.

Twenty-six out of 33 districts of Balochistan, 17 out of 37 districts of Punjab and nine out of 29 districts of Sindh also have a gender gap of over 10pc among the voters.

Four districts of the country have less than 40pc women on electoral rolls— two each in Balochistan and the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (KP).

In Killa Abdullah and Kohlu districts of Balochistan, the proportion of women voters is as low as 35.75pc and 37.72pc, respectively. In North and South Waziristan (KP), women form 38.69pc and 39.05pc of the total registered voters, respectively.

In contrast, seven districts have 47pc or more female registered voters, and interestingly these include two districts of Balochistan. All the other five districts happen to be in Punjab, which otherwise accounts for the gender gap exceeding that of rest of the three other provinces put together.

Chakwal district in Punjab has the unique distinction of having more than 49pc female voters, making it a role model. The total number of registered voters in the district comes to 1.19 million which includes 0.608m (50.93pc) males and 0.585m (49.07pc) females. That translates into a minor variation of 22,129 or 1.86pc.

In Jhelum district, the number of voters stands at 1.02m, including 0.532m (51.89pc) male and 0.493m (48.12pc) female voters.

The next in line is Rawalpindi where the number of enrolled voters is 3.43m, including 1.79m (52.16pc) male and 1.64mn (47.84pc) female voters. In Attock, the total 1.30m enrolled voters include 0.680m (52.23pc) male and 0.622m (47.77pc) female voters.

In Sohbatpur district of Balochistan, the total number of voters comes to 108,014, which includes 56,545 (52.35pc) male and 51,469 (47.65pc) female voters.

Khushab district in Punjab has 0.903m registered voters, including 0.475m (52.58pc) male and 0.428m (47.42pc) female voters.

In Washuk district of Balochistan, the total number of voters stands at 63,241, including 33,519 (53pc) male and 29,722 (47pc) female voters.

As many as 15 districts in Punjab and one in Sindh have a gap of over 200,000 among male and female voters. Just five districts of Punjab account for a gender gap of over two million, with Lahore and Faisalabad alone contributing to around one million to it.

In Lahore district, the total number of registered voters stands at 6.10m which includes 3.32m (54.49pc) male and 2.77m (45.51pc) female voters, translating into a gap of 0.548m. In Faisalabad, the gap comes to 0.448m. The total number of voters enrolled in the district is 4.97m, including 2.70m (54.51pc) males and 2.26m (45.49pc) females.

Gujranwala is the next in line having a gender gap of 0.354m. The total number of voters in the district stands at 3.14m, including 1.75m (55.63pc) males and 1.39m (44.37pc) females.

In Rahim Yar Khan, the gap is 0.351m. The 2.72m voters in the district include 1.53m (56.45pc) males and 1.18m (43.55pc) females.

Karachi (West) in Sindh has a gender of around 0.300m. The number of male and female voters in the district stands at 0.998m (58.84pc) and 0.698m (41.16pc), respectively, and the total comes to 1.69m.

In Kasur district of Punjab, the total number of voters stands at 2.17m, including 1.17m (56.46pc) males and 0.904m (43.54pc) females. The gap is 0.268m. In Sheikhupura, the gap is 0.254mn. The 1.91m registered voters in the district include 1.08m (56.65pc) males and 0.828m (43.35pc) females.

Sialkot has 2.61m registered voters of which 1.43m (54.77pc) are males and 1.18m (45.23pc) females. The gap comes to 0.249m. Muzaffargarh also accounts for a gender gap of 0.233m. The total number of voters in the district stands at 2.32m, includes 1.28m (55.02pc) males and 1.04m (44.98pc) females. Bahawalnagar has a gender gap of 0.229m and the proportion of women voters in the district is 43.42pc.

Other districts in Punjab with over 0.200m gap include Multan (0.217m), Vehari (0.212m), Okara and Bahawalpur (0.211m), Sargodha (0.207m) and Khanewal (0.202m).

In overall terms, Punjab and Sindh are the only two provinces to have more than 45pc women voters. The proportion of female voters in the two provinces is 45.27pc and 45.94pc, respectively.

The ratio of women on electoral rolls in KP and Balochistan stands at 43.70pc and 42.98pc, respectively. Women voters’ proportion in the federal capital is 46.97pc.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2021