ISLAMABAD: A top electoral watchdog has flagged more than 70 polling stations where the number of women voters was below 10 per cent of registered voters during the by-polls held earlier this month, including one station where none of the around 1,350 registered female voters came to vote.

The low female turnout went unnoticed, the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) said in a report on Sunday, reminding the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that it could have ordered re-election under the law.

Section 9(1) of the Elections Act 2017 empowers the ECP to void a poll and order a fresh one at all or some polling stations if the overall turnout of women in a constituency remains below 10 per cent of the total votes cast.

Fafen announced its recommendation in light of ECP’s Form 48 — titled ‘Consolidated statement of the results of the count furnished by the presiding officers — of 11 national and provincial assembly constituencies where by-elections were held on Oct 16.

Fafen calls for action in areas with low female participation in recent by-election on 11 seats

According to these forms, women turnout remained below 10pc of registered votes in 74 polling stations in five constituencies, Fafen said and urged the ECP to address the matter to make elections more inclusive and deter such practices in the upcoming general elections.

Of these stations, 43 were in the NA-31 Peshawar-V constituency, 17 in NA-239 Korangi Karachi-I, nine in NA-24 Charsadda-II, three in NA-22 Mardan-III, and two in NA-237 Malir-II.

In one female polling station of NA-22 set up in the Government Girls High School Aslam Killi, none of the 1,348 registered voters turned out to vote on Oct 16.

Moreover, two polling stations recorded a turnout between 2pc and 4pc, nine between 4pc and 6pc, 22 between 6pc and 8pc, and 40 between 8pc and 10pc.

The network, however, believed that Section 9(2) of the Election Act empowered the ECP to take cognisance of such instances of suppressed women voting at the polling station level and proceed against those who may have been involved in restraining women from voting.

“The section authorises the commission to order the filing of a complaint before a court of competent jurisdiction against the responsible persons,” Fafen said.

“In addition, the Election Commission also needs to direct the district election commissions (DECs) to conduct special voter education campaigns for women in polling areas that recorded low female turnout in the previous general election or recent local government or by-elections as required by Section 12(c) of the Elections Act, 2017,” it added.

At the same time, the network said, the law needed to be tightened further to ensure that the suppression of women voting at the polling station level had a legal consequence and guarantee that the political parties and contesting candidates guard against women being barred or discouraged from voting in any polling area within their respective constituencies.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2022