RAJANPUR: In the recent General Election of 2024, the elected Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-187 Rajanpur-I captured 79,811 votes, which equates to 41% of the 195,748 ballots cast. This represents only 20% of the 395,237 registered voters in the constituency. Under Pakistan's First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system, a candidate does not require a majority to win a seat but must have the highest vote share.

According to Free and Fair Election Network's Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) of the constituency, the voter turnout was recorded at 50%. Despite the electoral victory, the winning candidate did not secure the support of the majority of the voters who participated in the election on February 8, 2024, as 108,283 votes, or 55%, were cast in favor of other candidates.

The runner-up candidate garnered 34% of the total ballots cast, while the candidate in third place received 9%. The remaining candidates collectively secured 12% of the votes. Additionally, 7,654 ballots, accounting for 4% of the total, were declared invalid.

This analysis is part of the Free and Fair Election Network's (FAFEN) examination of electoral representativeness across Pakistan's 266 National Assembly constituencies. Under the FPTP system, the candidate with the highest number of votes wins, irrespective of whether they have the majority support of voters. In contrast, a proportional representation system would allocate legislative seats based on the proportion of votes won, reflecting a broader range of voter preferences. The data from Pakistan's GE-2024 reveals a significant gap between votes cast and the representation achieved across all constituencies.