ISLAMABAD: Women voters in 18 per cent communities (census blocks) voted differently from their men counterparts in the National Assembly’s constituencies during the 2024 general elections, according to a report by Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) released on Sunday.

The report that compares the results of male and female polling stations in same communities finds that in 82 per cent 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 votes, Fafen’s assessment could only compared the results of male and female polling stations.

Furthermore, the report 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.

In 18pc of the communities, male and female voters diverged in their choice of winner as they returned different winners from their respective pollingstations.

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

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

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

Of the 3,884 communities where women’s choice of winner for National Assembly seats was different, the PTI won more support from women in 1,260 communities, followed by PML-N in 1,027 and PPP in 694 communities.

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

For example, in NA-43, Tank-cum-Dera Ismail Khan, PTI narrowly won edging out JUI-F candidate by 555 votes.

PTI-supported candidate garnered a lead of 1,430 votes at female polling stations alone, a margin that decisively affected the overall outcome of the elction on that seat.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2025