Islamabad: In Pakistan’s General Elections of 2024, discrepancies in the number of ballots cast for the National and Provincial Assemblies have surfaced, raising questions about the electoral process. Voters, except those in Islamabad, were issued two ballot papers: green for the National Assembly and white for the Provincial Assembly. Despite this uniform procedure, the number of votes for the two assemblies did not match in several regions.

In the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), more votes were cast for the Provincial Assembly than for the National Assembly. Conversely, in Punjab and Sindh, the National Assembly received more votes. Punjab saw the largest gap, with approximately 450,000 more votes for the National Assembly, surpassing one percent of the total votes in the province. Sindh recorded 67,000 more votes for the National Assembly, while KP and Balochistan had 35,751 and 32,149 more votes for the Provincial Assemblies, respectively.

These discrepancies could arise from voters opting to cast a ballot for only one assembly, though such occurrences are typically rare. Another explanation involves postponed elections in certain constituencies, such as Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab and Bajaur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, due to the deaths of candidates. These postponements may have contributed to the differences observed in the ballot counts.

Under normal circumstances, the number of ballots in both assembly boxes should align. Significant deviations could suggest issues with ballot handling or counting errors, potentially undermining the integrity of the electoral process. Voters are encouraged to review Form-45 and Form-46, which detail the count and ballot paper account, to detect and report discrepancies.

The Free and Fair Election Network plans to release further guidance on how to access and understand these election result forms to assist voters in monitoring the accuracy of the election process.