The 2013 elections were a critical step in continuing the nation’s return to democracy, which began five years ago. Millions of Pakistanis expressed their support for the democratic process by voting despite extremist attempts to disrupt the polls. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), more than 46 million citizens exercised their right to vote in the elections, constituting a voter turnout of around 55 percent. Voters’ courage and resolve in casting their ballots despite the mounting violence was a victory for democracy and the people of Pakistan. The seating of the new National Assembly on June 1 and formation of a national government by the Pakistan Muslim League—Nawaz (PML-N) represented the first transfer of power from one democratically elected government to the next in Pakistan. The elections and subsequent transfer of power have set the stage for upcoming events that could have sizeable impacts on the country’s continued democratic development, including indirect presidential elections and the retirement and replacement of the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, all of which are scheduled to take place in 2013.

The 2013 elections benefited from a number of positive aspects, including an improved legal framework, increased competition among parties and candidates, high turnout and voter enthusiasm, and more effective and independent election administration. However, continued election reform efforts are needed in a number of areas, as the political violence negatively impacted the elections in several areas of the country, and shortcomings were observed in election day procedures, women’s political participation, and the post-election environment. Upcoming by-elections present immediate opportunities to improve the administration and security of elections in Pakistan, and the subsequent local elections in the provinces offer further possibilities for election reform.

The main observations and findings of the NDI-ANFREL international election observation mission to Pakistan are detailed below. These items do not take into account certain developments in the post-election environment that occurred following the mission’s departure from Pakistan on May 22, including ongoing challenges to election results, re-polling and recounting in certain constituencies, and planning for by-elections in constituencies where the elections were not held or where winning candidates resigned seats due to victories in multiple constituencies.

Unprecedented levels of election-related violence created an unlevel playing field for some parties in certain areas of the country. In the year leading up to the elections, political violence plagued several parts of the country, notably Balochistan, Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA. While many parties and their candidates were victimized, the Pakistani Taliban specifically targeted three parties — the Awami National Party (ANP), the Muttahida Quami movement (MQM), and the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) — all parties of the outgoing government. The violence curtailed voters in some areas from hearing the messages of these parties and could have adversely affected the integrity of the elections in certain constituencies in Balochistan, Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and FATA. Political violence continued in the post-election environment, including the killing of an elected provincial assembly member, though the level of violence decreased markedly.

The elections were characterized by active competition among several national and regionally-based parties, including newly prominent contestants and a number of parties that had boycotted the 2008 elections. The diversity of views and platforms presented by these parties and candidates offered voters distinct choices in the elections. Thousands of citizens exercised their right to contest as candidates and the campaign was vigorous in most parts of the country, though campaign events were severely restricted in areas where political violence was prevalent. A number of political parties that boycotted in 2008 chose to contest the 2013 elections, including Balochistan National Party—Mengal (BNP-M), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), National Party (NP), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Additionally, as a result of extending the Political Parties Order to FATA, political parties fielded candidates in the region for the first time.

The elections took place under an improved legal and regulatory framework, which resulted from high levels of cooperation among political parties and meaningful consultative outreach by the ECP, but further reform is needed. The ambitious electoral reform process started after the 2008 elections resulted in three important amendments to the Constitution that bolstered the independence and neutrality of the Election Commission and established a framework for designating national and provincial caretaker governments. Reforms also led to the removal of education requirements for candidates and issuance of five separate administrative codes of conduct for political parties and candidates, observers, polling personnel, media, and security personnel. However, several important issues were insufficiently addressed, including the electoral dispute resolution system, candidate scrutiny process, gender equality measures, rules for observers, campaign finance, and results compilation and consolidation mechanisms, among others.

The elections represented a missed opportunity for increasing women’s representation in the National and Provincial Assemblies and meaningfully strengthening women’s political participation in Pakistan more broadly, though limited progress occurred in certain areas. Women remain grossly underrepresented in all aspects of the electoral process, including as candidates, election administrators, and voters. While more than twice as many women candidates contested the 2013 elections than in 2008, their numbers remained extremely low, representing only 2.9 percent of the total number of candidates contesting for general seats, and only 17 were elected, a decrease of 8 from 2008. No women serve on the Election Commission or as officers of the ECP, and less than 2 percent of its staff members and less than 2 percent of District Returning Officers (DROs), Returning Officers (ROs), and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) are women. While some positive efforts to increase voter registration of women took place in advance of the 2013 elections, women represented only 44 percent of registered voters on the final electoral rolls. Regrettably, by the time of this report’s publication, the ECP has yet to release turnout data disaggregated by gender, a key commitment it made in order to identify and address low levels of women’s participation. Media and civic groups reported that the practice of local leaders colluding to prohibit women from voting continued to occur in the 2013 elections in a number of constituencies in FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab. The ECP preliminarily reported that some 500 polling stations had zero women’s turnout, and that women’s turnout nationwide was around 44 percent.

The elections provided an opportunity for Pakistan’s large youth population to engage in Pakistan’s democratic process. Sizeable numbers of young Pakistanis took advantage of the opportunity and political contestants actively sought their support, in part through the extensive use of social media. At the time of the 2013 elections, Pakistanis under the age of 35 made up approximately 60 percent of the entire population and represented 48 percent of those registered to vote — and these figures are expected to continue rising. Political parties and candidates actively sought to engage youth in their election campaigns and specifically targeted young voters in their electoral appeals and policy prescriptions, and through the extensive use of social media and text messaging. Representatives of political parties and youth-focused civic groups reported to NDIANFREL observers that opportunities for youth political participation were greater during the 2013 elections than at any other time in Pakistan’s history.

Considerable improvements to the accuracy of the electoral rolls significantly enhanced the integrity of the elections, though voter registration among women remains disproportionately low. In cooperation with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), the ECP considerably improved the accuracy of the electoral rolls in advance of the 2013 elections by linking voter registration to the possession of a Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC). More than 37.2 million unverified voters were eliminated from the rolls and more than 36.7 million were added through the initial process. Building on the new system, the ECP established a program through which citizens could check their voting registration status, electoral area, and, as of May 6, polling station location, via text message using their CNIC numbers. The service was widely used in the pre-election period and on election day itself. While the CNIC-based system had many positive aspects, the possession of CNICs is disproportionately low among women, whose voter registration levels remain low, representing only 44 percent of voters on the electoral rolls.

Most aspects of election day were assessed positively by NDI-ANFREL observers, though administrative problems were noted in polling stations throughout the country and there were allegations of irregularities in several areas where NDIANFREL observers did not visit. NDI-ANFREL observers reported a calm and peaceful environment at most polling stations, noting much enthusiasm among voters, as reflected in the 55 percent national turnout. This was a remarkable achievement in light of the frequent and well-publicized security threats in many parts of the country. Voting was generally well-conducted and the secrecy of the ballot was largely respected. The process benefited from greatly improved electoral rolls and the widespread use of a text message-based system that allowed voters to verify their polling locations. However, NDI-ANFREL observers reported a number of administrative problems, including inadequate facilities, long lines, and overcrowding; voters having difficulty finding their names on the electoral rolls; and partisan polling agents performing election administration duties. While these administrative problems did not seriously impair the integrity of the elections, they could be damaging in future elections if allowed to persist. Allegations of more egregious election day irregularities, such as ballot box stuffing, polling station capture, violence in polling stations, and manipulation of results, were prevalent in certain parts of the country and in some cases resulted in ECP-mandated re-polling.

The post-election period experienced shortcomings in a number of areas, including results management, transparency, and electoral dispute resolution. These shortcomings, coupled with allegations of election day irregularities, have weakened the credibility of the elections in the eyes of certain contestants and civic groups, as they have insufficient means to independently verify election results and seek redress for their grievances. The ECP’s new computerized Results Management System (RMS) was not fully utilized to process preliminary results, as ROs used diverging systems for reporting results to the ECP. The announcement of preliminary results from certain constituencies, including many in Balochistan, experienced significant delays. On June 11, responding to observers’ and parties’ requests, the ECP announced that it had instructed ROs to provide polling station- and constituency-level results information to interested individuals upon request. While a positive step that strengthened the transparency of the elections, polling agents and observers were unable to verify that the counting and reconciliation figures they received on election day were accurately reflected in preliminary and final results for an entire month after election day, and RO compliance with the ECP instructions remains unclear. Electoral dispute resolution in the post-election environment also suffered from inadequate transparency, as there is no centralized mechanism for tracking and publicizing complaints and decisions on complaints, and the delayed establishment of election tribunals, which were not established until June 3. Despite these shortcomings, election administrators appeared to work to address certain problems, as re-polling and re-counting was ordered in several constituencies, though the justifications for these decisions were unclear and the decisionmaking processes were not transparent.

This report was produced by National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and
the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) 2013.

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There is no standard methodology or procedure to investigate an election. In general,

the aim of an audit is to determine whether the election result accurately reflects the will of the voters who cast ballots on Election Day – in other words whether the votes on Election Day were cast by duly registered voters, were counted correctly, and then were added together accurately to reach the final election result. An audit is a technical investigation based on physical evidence and materials facts i.e. the ballot boxes, ballots and official election documentation including results forms.

The audit in Afghanistan of the June 2014 Presidential run-off election was unprecedented in international election practice – a “complete” audit has never been attempted before anywhere in the world. Every vote cast in Afghanistan was scrutinized under the guidance of United Nations election experts by independent observers and relevant political stakeholders, but the process was long and tedious. Scrutiny of about 8 million votes in more than 22,800 ballot boxes using a 16-point checklist required almost eight weeks (from 17 July to 6 September 2014). However, the audit never progressed as planned. Such an approach in Pakistan’s parliamentary system would not be logical or workable on a nationwide scale, since more than 90 million ballots were cast in 272 separate National and 577 Provincial Assembly constituency elections during general election 2013. However, it would be possible to conduct a partial or complete audit of one or more individual constituencies.

Another way of investigating an election is to submit a petition (case) challenging the election result to a court or specialized tribunal established for this purpose. In Pakistan, this process is defined in chapter XII of the Representation of Peoples Act 1976, but it has never been implemented effectively. This method heavily relies on the law of evidence and court procedures, which in Pakistan are in some ways ill-suited to the election context and are commonly utilized by the parties to delay or manipulate election tribunals’ investigations. In Pakistan’s parliamentary system, an election result petition challenges the election in one National or Provincial Assembly constituency, but does not investigate the elections in general. In addition, election officials (including any judicial or government official deputed to perform any election duty) cannot be accused of wrongdoing through an election petition under Pakistan’s current election law. In 2013, a total of 410 election result petitions were filed, of which more than 65 have yet to be decided by the tribunals.

The ongoing dialogue among the political parties is a step forward towards resolving the current political deadlock through an audit of the 2013 general elections. In the coming days, they should conclude the terms of reference of an election investigation that could determine, based on concrete evidence, whether the election result in one or more constituencies does not reflect the will of the voters who cast ballots on Election Day. In other words, were the ballots cast by duly registered voters, were those ballots counted and recorded properly, and did the votes in all polling stations in a constituency add up to the announced final election result?

If the election result is invalidated in one or more constituencies, there should be a by-election in those constituencies, at a minimum. If the election result is invalidated in sufficient number of constituencies where the ruling party candidate won, then the ruling party would no longer have a majority in the National Assembly, and early elections may be called. However, by-elections or fresh elections should only be held after correcting the systemic procedural issues that have always undermined the quality of elections in Pakistan.

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The recommendations propose amendments to:

1. Eight sub-clauses and seven clauses of eight articles and two complete articles of the Constitution of Pakistan
2. Twenty-two sub-sections and eight sections of the Representation of People Act (ROPA), 1976
3. Four sub-sections of two sections of the Conduct of General Elections Order, 2002
4. One sub-section and one section of the Delimitation of Constituencies Act, 1974
5. Two sub-sections of a section of the Election Commission Order, 2002
6. Three sub-sections and four sections of the Electoral Rolls Act, 1974
7. One section of the Political Parties Order, 2002

In addition, the recommendations proposes insertion of:

1. Additional provisions in two articles of the Constitution
2. Overhaul of Chapter XII of the ROPA, 1976
3. Additional provisions in nine sections of ROPA, 1976
4. One section of Political Parties Order, 2002

The aforementioned amendments and insertions in the legal framework are covered in as many as 65 measures through 110 interventions. These measures and interventions are spread across fifteen chapters. Each chapter tackles a critical issues area of the existing election framework.

The chapters are arranged in a logical sequence around priority issues. For instance, the first three chapters deal with the composition, appointment, institutional autonomy and accountability of the Election Commission. The next three chapters recommend changes in the legal framework to streamline voter registration and to make the process of delimitation of constituencies and polling scheme equitable, timely and transparent.

The six following chapters deal with the operational aspects of the elections. The chapters propose, the means for objective and transparent candidacy process for both general and reserved seats, allocation of reserved seats on proportional share in votes polled, legally-sanctioned regulation of campaign and political finances of both candidates and political parties, provision for legally-sanctioned and regulated independent observation, transparent election result management and comprehensive dispute settlement mechanism covering all aspects and phases of the elections.

The last three chapters address issues involving the extension of voting rights to overseas Pakistanis and the use of technology in ensuring efficient election management, and advocates the need for bringing together all legal instruments governing elections into one unified election law. The unification of legal Acts and Orders will help remove inconsistencies, discrepancies and contradictions not only in the existing legal framework but will also help prevent the same from happening in the future.

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Section 45 of the Representation of the People Act 1976 states that all documents retained by the ECP except the ballot papers shall be made available for public inspection upon an application made by any citizen following the formal procedures. Using this right, Free and Fair Election Network requested the concerned authorities to make the above mentioned documents available so that election transparency and authenticity can be ensured after scrutiny of the official documents. FAFEN observers obtained 39,690 Form XIVs (Statement of the Count) from 160 constituencies and 27,781 Form XVs (Ballot Paper Account Form) from 127 constituencies across the country. These forms were then scrutinized on constituency basis and formed the foundation for FAFEN’s detailed report on election audit, which will be separately published. FAFEN observers also managed to obtain 155 Form XVIs (Consolidation of Statements of the Count), 162 Form XVIIs (Result of the Count) and 137 polling schemes from across Pakistan.

Information related to winning candidates’ campaign expenses from 159 constituencies during the post-election period was also collected as a part of post-election observation. These included 83 constituencies of Punjab, 31 of Sindh, 27 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine of Balochistan, seven of FATA and both constituencies of ICT. No information could be collected from 113 constituencies. The findings from these documents helped FAFEN come up with recommendations to improve check and balance on electoral finances.

ECP claims to have established an effective complaint handling mechanism in most, if not all, constituencies of Pakistan. FAFEN collected information related to election complaints from offices of concerned officers to analyze the effectiveness of these mechanisms in practicality. The data shows that as many as 1,317 complaints were filed with ECP of which 1,023 were resolved. To evaluate the law and order situation during the election period, FAFEN collected information regarding reported incidents of illegitimate campaign-related activities from District Police Officers. The data suggested that 49 FIRs were filed in as many as 86 districts regarding unlawful campaigning activities during this period.

Following the election exercise, FAFEN started consultative sessions with different stakeholders across the country in order to gather suggestions and recommendations related to the electoral reforms that are deemed necessary by the stakeholders. In this regard, partner organizations working as a part of the network organized 304 meetings in which more than 6,000 stakeholders participated. During these meetings 5,510 recommendations related to different themes were recorded. After rigorous research and scrutiny of election practices and laws, FAFEN published its recommendations for electoral reforms, which are reflective of the observations and suggestions form consultative sessions.

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FAFEN, the leading civil society network covering issues of election and governance, achieved its own landmark in implementing the largest citizen observation exercise to date. The findings of the observation, both on-field and desk, are compiled in a series of reports covering all aspects of the 2013 National Assembly general elections. One of several, this report focuses on the election results and their historical and comparative significance at the constituency level.

The goal behind the report is to present not only a citizen-led Parallel Vote Tabulation exercise but also an in-depth analysis of party and turnout trends and voting pattern in each National Assembly constituency.

Furthermore, given the lack of data in previous elections on turnout trends across the gender divide, the report partially answers the question at regional and national levels by calculating the estimated turnouts by the three (male, female and combined) types of polling stations. FAFEN believes the report will serve as an academic and practical guide to understand the complexities of voting behavior in light of each constituency’s political context.

The report has been prepared by information obtained through the official documents released by the ECP as well as through field observers deployed by FAFEN on Election Day, in particular the Form XIV – the forms on which the results of polling stations are compiled by the presiding officers.

This report reviews the results of 266 of the 272 general seats of the National Assembly. The remaining six constituencies are not in the purview of this report owing to reasons listed as under.

a. Elections were not held in three constituencies (NA-38, NA-83 and NA-254) as part of the general election exercise.
b. The gazette results were withheld due to:

i. ECP’s order of re-polling at 21 polling stations of NA-46
ii. ECP’s order for recounting of votes in NA-103
iii. Supreme Court order to withhold the notification for NA-237

The key findings, as does the rest of the report, therefore, do not account for the above-mentioned constituencies. The summary of findings, covering 266 of the 272 National Assembly general seats, is as follows.

Registered Voters Conundrum

The 2013 elections were the first to be held on voters’ list compiled from the data of Computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC) holders. While the measure did affect an increase in the overall number of registered voters, the impact on registered voters’
numbers for constituencies varied.

• Compared with the 2008 elections, the number of registered voters decreased in 100 constituencies. The decrease in constituencies’ voters varied from the lowest of 580 in NA-168 to the highest of 241,692 in NA-266.
• In the rest–166 of the 266 constituencies–the number of registered voters increased compared to the 2008 elections. The increase across the constituencies, however, remained skewed. The addition of new voters ranged from a mere 284
  in NA-169 to a substantial 143,117 in NA-128.
• The issue of under-registration of women voters continues to shadow the constitutionally promised universality and equal representation of voters in the 2013 elections, albeit with varying intensity across regions. Of the 86.2 million voters, 43.6% were females compared to the 80 million voters in 2008 with 44% female voters.
• At the provincial level, the ratio has skewed further towards the male side in Punjab and Balochistan—percentages of female voters
• changed from 45.9% in 2008 to 42.6% in 2013 in Balochistan and dropped from 45% in 2008 to 43.8% in 2013 in Punjab. The percentages of female voters have increased from 2008 to 2013 in; FATA (from 30.1% to 34.2%), Khyber
  Pakhtunkhwa (from 40.7% to 42.8%), ICT (from 45.8% to 46.3%) and more marginally in Sindh (from 44.2% to 44.8%).
• Constituency level tracking of registered voters from the finalization of the polling scheme to the result Form XVII and official gazette reveals discrepancies. First, the final polling scheme was not published for the 14 constituencies of
  Balochistan and two constituencies of Punjab, namely, NA-105 and NA-107. Furthermore, while the final polling scheme files for NA-90 and NA-178 are available on the ECP website, the data is not accessible for the former due to password protected status of the file. In the case of the latter, NA-178, the file only has the overall voter and polling scheme totals and not the detailed polling scheme itself. It is important to note that the calculation of registered voters in the final polling scheme is based on the listing and calculation of the voter numbers against the smallest unit in the polling scheme–the census bloc.
• The distribution of constituencies showing voter discrepancy is significantly skewed across regions. Punjab leads with 57 of the 93 constituencies showing a difference of voters between the final polling scheme and result Form XVII. Khyber Pukhtunkhwa has 16 such constituencies followed by Sindh (15), FATA (4) and ICT (1). Of the total of 246,858 votes in
  question, Punjab accounts for 233,225 (94.5%), Khyber Pukhtunkhwa 6,462 (2.6%),Sindh 6,317(2.6%), FATA 580 (0.2%) and ICT 274 (0.1%).
• Of the rest of the 254 constituencies, the numbers of registered voters in 93 constituencies were recorded differently in their
  2 respective final polling scheme and election 3 results. An absolute discrepancy of voters was recorded in the 93
  constituencies—decrease of 39,499 in 30 constituencies and increase of 207,359 in 63 constituencies.
• Furthermore, the number of registered voters for the constituencies is not mentioned in the official gazette of returned candidates. While the number of registered votes was mentioned earlier in unofficial result Form XVII, it was the
  number of rejected votes that was not mentioned in Form XVII.

Turnout Trends

The turnout across regions and most constituencies shows encouraging trends. PVT estimates aggregated for the 266 constituencies show a turnout of 54.7% (+/-0.03%) at the national level–ECP’s turnout for the same is 55.7%.

• Barring 11 constituencies, the rest—255 constituencies—recorded a turnout in excess of 35%–turnout of 26 constituencies ranged between 35-45%, 61 in the range of 45.1-55%, 152 constituencies in the range of 55.1-65%, while that of 16 constituencies surpassed 65%.
• Compared to their respective average turnout of the 2002 and 2008 elections, only six constituencies recorded a decrease in the 2013 elections. Of the six, three constituencies’– NAs- 272, 271 and 42–turnout declined substantially by 17.3%, 15.3% and 13.6% respectively. Three other constituencies’–NAs 26, 106 and 107–turnout dropped by less than 1%. Of the other 260 constituencies, 23 constituencies recorded an increase in excess of 20%, 72 had an increase ranging from 15-20%, 74 between 10.1-15%, 73 between 5.1 to 10% range while 18 recorded a marginal increase under 5%.
• The turnout analysis by demographic categories has the rural constituencies leading the chart with majority rural and predominantly rural constituencies recording turnouts of 58% and 56% respectively. Majority urban, semi-urban and predominantly urban constituencies follow with 55.5%, 53.5% and 53.2% respectively.
• From a comparative perspective however, the ranking is led by the urban constituencies. The substantial increase in turnout is most evident in semi-urban constituencies where compared to the 2008 elections, the 2013 turnout increased by 17%, followed by majority urban and predominantly urban constituencies with turnout increase of 13.2% and 12.8% respectively. Among rural constituencies, the predominantly rural constituencies achieved an increase of 10.9% in their collective turnout
  while the majority rural recorded an increase of 10.6% compared to the 2008 elections.
• A closer look at the turnout trend reveals a continuation of female under-participation compared to male voters. The PVT estimates aggregated at national and regional levels by types of polling station exhibits lower turnout trends at female exclusive polling stations compared to exclusively male and combined polling stations. The estimated turnout for
  female polling stations was 50.7% (±0.07%) whereas the turnouts for male and combined polling stations were 58.5% (±0.06%) and 54.8% (±0.04%) respectively.

Higher Number of Rejected Votes

A key issue observed in the 2013 elections is the disproportionate and significant increase in the number of rejected votes—the number while increasing from 775,720 in 2002 to 973,694 in 2008 recorded a substantial increase of 64% to reach 1,502,717 in the 266 constituencies observed.

• The issue of rejected votes is critical not merely due to the numbers but also given the skewed distribution across constituencies and regions–the numbers range from 0 in NA-53 to 25,562 in NA-266.
• The distribution of rejected votes paints a somber picture in that only 27 of the 266 constituencies have less than 2,000 rejected votes. Of the rest, 78 had rejected votes from 2,000-5,000, 148 constituencies ranged in 5,001-10,000, and ten constituencies fell in the 10,001 to 15,000 category while three constituencies had rejected votes exceeding 15,000.
• From the results’ perspective, the issue is highlighted further by the fact that the number of rejected votes exceeds the margin of victory in 35 of the 266 constituencies covered in this report. Of these, the rejected votes outnumber the margin of victory by less than 1,000 votes in six indicating an acquired importance of rejected votes due to close competition. In the other 29 constituencies, the number of rejected votes outweighs the margin of victory by as little as 1,140 (NA-153) and as many as 19,701 (NA- 266).

Voting and Party Trends

The 2013 election witnessed returns for parties that varied across regions and provinces. While Sindh largely produced similar results—PPPP dominated rural Sindh while MQM urban areas, particularly Karachi—the other provinces underwent a significant change. PML-N and PTI were the largest beneficiaries of the change in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Pakhtun and Baloch nationalist parties made a strong comeback in Balochistan. Among the religious parties, JUI—while far from the overwhelming performance of MMA—secured significant votes and seats in both Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The elections, apart from Sindh, could be seen as an expression of noconfidence against the ruling party—PPPP—and its coalition partners.

• For the 2013 elections, a total of 4,462 contestants vied for the 266 constituencies covered in this report. PTI fielded the most candidates, competing from 230 constituencies, followed by PPPP (227), PML-N (215) and MQM (207). Independent candidates constituted the largest group with 2,343 while other parties fielded a total of 1,240 candidates cumulatively.
• From the perspective of gender representation and participation, the 2013 elections had the most female candidates (161) compared to the number of female candidates in the previous two elections—75 and 61 candidates contested in 2008 and 2002 elections respectively. Most–123 of the 161–contested either as  independent candidates (95) or from the platform of smaller/regional parties (28). Among the mainstream parties, PPPP awarded tickets to 15 females, followed by MQM, PMLN, PTI, and PML with 8, 7, 6 and 2 candidates respectively.
• Of the 161 women contestants, only 6 were successful in winning their seats in the 2013 elections compared to 16 and 13 successful female candidates for the 2008 and 2002 general elections respectively. Three female candidates each from PPPP and PML-N secured the constituencies, as against successful female candidates representing four parties in 2008 and five in 2002.
• PML-N won 126 of the 266 constituencies covered in this report. PPPP was a distant second with 33 followed by PTI (28 seats), MQM (18), JUI (11), PML-F (5), JI and PKMAP (3 each), NPP and PML (2 each). Of the rest, 27 seats were secured by independent candidates while ANP, APML, PML-Z, BNP, AMLP, AJIP, QWP and NP shared one seat each.
• A measure of the desire for change among the electorate can be ascertained from the fact that of the 266 constituencies, 144 featured winning candidates with their current political affiliation for the first time since the 2002 election. Of the rest of the 116 constituencies, 58 each returned candidates/parties for the second and third consecutive time.
• PML-N replaced PPPP as the largest party, securing 14,794,632 (32.6%) of the 45,416,463 votes polled in the 266 constituencies. PTI was the distant second with 7,738,270 (17.0%) votes followed by PPPP (6,973,169 or 15.4% votes), MQM (2,455,313 or 5.4% votes) while independent candidates cumulatively got 5,810,894 (12.8%) votes. While no other party reached the 2 million vote figure, JUI (1,486,261), PML (1,410,113), and PML-F (1,072,846) were successful in garnering support of over 1 million voters.
• Among the three leading parties, PML-N secured the largest, though less than the majority share, of the votes polled in each of the five demographic categories of constituencies. The party was able to get 29.1% of the votes polled in predominantly urban constituencies, 42.6% of the majority urban, 36.4% of semi urban, 31.5% of the majority rural and 33.1% of the predominantly rural constituencies.
• PTI, the second largest party had 24.7% of the vote polled in predominantly urban constituencies, 23.1% of the majority urban, 14.2% of the semi-urban, 13.8% of the majority rural and 15% of the votes polled in predominantly rural constituencies. PPPP as the third major party outperformed PTI in predominantly rural, majority rural and semiurban
  constituencies securing 17.2%, 21.8% and 21.4% of the votes polled in the respective categories. The party however performed poorly in predominantly and majority urban constituencies securing 6.9% and 12.1% votes polled in the respective type of constituencies.

1 Balochistan’s 14 constituencies as well as NA-90, NA-105, NA-170 and NA-178 are not accounted for owing to the non-availability of their final polling schemes.
2 Detailed final polling scheme for all regions barring Balochistan and four constituencies of Punjab were accessible
at http://ecp.gov.pk/PollingScheme.aspx, downloaded on May 16th, 2013.
3 Form XVII data was accessible from http://ecp.gov.pk/electionresult/AllResults.aspx?assemblyid=NA , downloaded on September 16th, 2013.

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General Elections were held on 11th May 2013. These elections had the largest number of registered voters i.e. 86,189,835, which included 37,597,343 women and 48,592,492 men. There were 10,958 contesting candidates including 419 women. The number of election observers, both national and international, touched 50,000. Besides, a very active electronic and print media closely watched these elections. The ECP handled the entire logistic operations in a very professional manner and made available all polling staff and materials so that more than 69,000 polling stations could open on time and voters were able to cast their votes.

This report was published by Election Commission of Pakistan and made available for General Public .

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An Arrival Statement was issued on 9 May 2013 (Annex 2). The Observer Mission was deployed from 9-13 May 2013. Teams were based in the two most-populous Provinces – Punjab and Sindh – plus the capital, Islamabad. During deployment the teams met with election officials, civil society representatives, security agencies as well as other observers.

On the basis of the Mission’s initial findings and observations, the Chairperson issued an Interim Statement on 13 May 2013. The Mission’s Final Report was completed in Islamabad prior to departure on 18 May 2013 and thereafter transmitted to the Commonwealth Secretary-General.

This report was produced by Commonwealth Observer Mission 2013.

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