Peshawar: In the General Elections of 2002, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) region recorded a voter turnout of only 30.4% for its Provincial Assembly, with 3.10 million votes cast out of 10.21 million registered voters. This turnout continues to reflect the longstanding electoral challenges faced by the province, which is the third-most populous in Pakistan and has a history of conflict and instability.

According to Free and Fair Election Network, KP, formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province until 2010, has a predominantly Pashtun electorate, with significant Hindko-speaking communities and other linguistic minorities. The province's registered electorate in 2002 included 5.79 million male voters, accounting for 56.7%, and 4.42 million female voters, representing 43.3%. The gender gap, totaling 1.36 million, highlights ongoing structural barriers to women's civic participation.

The voter turnout in KP has traditionally been lower than the national average and other provinces like Punjab. Factors contributing to this include challenging geography, limited transport infrastructure, and periods of security threats, which have impeded polling rates in some areas. Notably, the gender-disaggregated data for votes polled was unavailable, as systematic recording began only in 2018.

The election saw 95,237 ballots rejected, making up 3.1% of the total votes. This rejection rate is higher than those in Punjab and Sindh, potentially due to lower literacy rates and administrative complexities in polling management. KP's historical rejection rates have varied, with the lowest at 1.4% in 1970 and the highest at 3.7% in 2018.

The province's registered electorate has grown significantly, from 3.1 million in 1970 to 21.9 million in 2024, partly due to the merger of former FATA constituencies. Despite this growth, KP has experienced variable turnout rates, with the highest at 47.8% in 1970 and the lowest at 24% in 1997.