Zubair Qureshi
Citing estimated data on Youth voter turnout collected by Gallup Pakistan over the past 8 general elections since 1988, Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (PILDAT) has observed that the youth voter turnout in the past eight elections happens to be just 31pc which is 13 points lower than the average overall voter turnout in these elections.
Youth voter turnout is even lower than women voter turnout during the past two elections for which women voter turnout figures are available.
Average youth voter turnout estimates are a mere 31.5% compared to 40% for women voter turnout and 53% for average national voter turnout during the last two elections in 2013 and 2018.
Drawing attention of the Election Commission of Pakistan to the critical issue of low voter turnout in youth of Pakistan, PILDAT has urged the ECP to consider:
This data also needs to be made public periodically at least on a yearly basis. Undertaking research focusing on Youth participation in electoral process to understand the reasons behind extraordinarily low youth voter turnout in Pakistan.
Designing and executing special campaigns aimed at educating youth about the importance of participation as a voter.
