Islamabad: A voter turnout of 50.8% was recorded in the 1985 non-party-based general elections in Pakistan, with 17.47 million votes cast out of 34.40 million registered voters. The elections, held under the military rule of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, required candidates to run as independents, a move seen as an effort to dilute organized political opposition.

According to Free and Fair Election Network, the elections were boycotted by major political parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party. Muhammad Khan Junejo was appointed Prime Minister following the elections. The Elections Act of the time did not mandate gender-disaggregated voter rolls, though electoral data indicated a gender gap in voter registration, with males representing 55.2% and females 44.8% of the electorate.

The polling process saw 581,469 ballots, or 3.3% of the total, rejected or deemed invalid. This rejection rate pointed to potential issues in voter instruction and ballot design accessibility. Voter participation varied across provinces, with Punjab contributing the highest number of votes, reflective of its larger registered electorate. Lower turnout figures were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, consistent with their smaller voter bases.

The 1985 elections marked a significant moment in Pakistan's electoral history, positioned between the highest turnout of 54.9% in 2013 and the lowest of 34.8% in 1997, as noted by FAFEN's analysis of twelve general elections held between 1970 and 2024.