Peshawar: The 1997 general elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province saw a voter turnout of only 24%, with 1.98 million votes cast out of 8.27 million registered voters. This turnout was notably lower than the national average and previous records for the province, which is Pakistan's third-most populous and has a history of being affected by regional conflicts.

According to Free and Fair Election Network, the turnout for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly elections in 1997 reflected persistent challenges such as difficult geography, limited infrastructure, and security concerns, which have historically affected voter participation in the region. The province, known as North-West Frontier Province until 2010, is home to a predominantly Pashtun electorate, with linguistic minorities including Hindko-speaking communities.

The press release noted that the gender-disaggregated voter registration figures for the 1997 elections were not available, as systematic recording of such data only began with the 2018 elections. The rejected ballots amounted to 49,384, accounting for 2.5% of the total votes cast. The rejection rate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has consistently been higher than in other provinces, potentially due to factors like lower literacy rates and administrative challenges.

From 1970 to 2024, the registered electorate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa grew from 3.1 million to 21.9 million, with a significant increase following the merger of former FATA constituencies post-2018. Despite this growth, the 1997 election marked the lowest recorded turnout for the provincial assembly, contrasting sharply with the highest turnout of 47.8% in 1970.