Kamber Shahdadkot: In the recent General Elections of 2024, the elected Member of the National Assembly from NA-196 Kamber Shahdadkot-I secured 85,370 votes, which accounted for 59% of the 145,735 ballots cast. However, this figure represents only 20% of the 417,740 registered voters in the constituency. Pakistan’s First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system requires only the highest vote share to win a seat, rather than a majority.

According to Free and Fair Election Network, the Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) for the constituency noted a voter turnout of 35%. NA-196 was among the 70 out of 266 National Assembly constituencies where the winner managed to secure 50% or more of the polled votes. Despite this, a significant portion of voters, numbering 50,009 or 34%, did not support the winning candidate. The winner’s share of the total registered voters remained at 20%.

The runner-up candidate garnered 24% of the ballots cast, with the third-placed candidate receiving 4%, and the remaining candidates securing a collective 7% of the votes. Notably, 10,356 ballots, or 7%, were declared invalid.

This analysis forms part of FAFEN’s constituency-wise evaluation of electoral representativeness across Pakistan’s 266 National Assembly constituencies. Under the FPTP system, candidates win seats by obtaining the highest vote totals, regardless of whether they possess majority support. Contrastingly, a proportional representation (PR) system would allocate legislative seats in accordance with the vote shares won by parties or candidates, thereby capturing a broader spectrum of voter preferences. Pakistan’s GE-2024 data highlight the gap between votes cast and representation secured across all constituencies.