Sherani: In the recent General Elections of 2024, the elected Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-251 Sherani-cum-Zhob-cum-Killa Saifullah secured victory with only 31% of the 148,117 votes cast in the constituency. This translates to just 14% of the 323,588 registered voters, highlighting a significant gap in voter support for the elected representative.

According to Free and Fair Election Network, despite winning the seat under Pakistan's First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system, which requires only the highest number of votes rather than a majority, the MNA did not have the backing of the majority of voters who participated in the election on February 8, 2024. The voter turnout for the constituency stood at 46%, with 64% of voters choosing other candidates, amounting to 94,261 votes against the winning candidate.

The runner-up in the election also garnered 31% of the votes, while the third-place candidate received 16%. Other candidates together accounted for another 16% of the votes, and 5% of the ballots, totaling 7,646, were declared invalid. The election results reflect a broader trend analyzed by FAFEN, which shows the discrepancy between vote totals and representation under the FPTP system. The data suggests that this system often results in elected members who lack majority support, unlike a proportional representation system that allocates seats based on the proportion of votes received, ensuring a wider array of voter preferences is represented. The findings from Pakistan's GE-2024 elections underscore the gap between the votes cast and the representation achieved across the nation's 266 National Assembly constituencies.