Why the voter turnout should have been 99pc?

• Current figures are not depressing but cannot metamorphose the system

55.02 percent… a figure we have been taking pride in since 2013 till yesterday. But is such a voter turnout enough for a population which makes Pakistan the sixth most populous country in the world?

Voter turnout is a reflection of public interest in processes of electing representatives, in order to formulate a government, and making decisions, in case the government asks for public opinion regarding any matter. However, the bitter reality that still hovers above every election, especially in this part of the world, is the huge gap between the voting-eligible population and the total adult population.

The political and institutional factors that affect this percentage include electoral system, concurrent elections, perception of the political issues at stake, campaign expenditures, political fragmentation, voting arrangements, and registration requirements. While all of these favour and seemingly promote a large number of people stepping out of their houses for the polls, the actual reality has been quite disappointing. With proportional representation in the assemblies, elections being held at the same time all over the country, the sense of judging verbal commitments made by different candidates and having a fair idea of every political party’s policy, billions of rupees being spent on campaigning despite the heavy burden of debts on our already meek shoulders, availability of several parties to choose from, highly un-complicated and conventional voting procedure for majorly illiterate population, and the only registration requirement being holding a Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), one cannot think of as to why our voter turnout has failed to reach the figure of 99 per cent.

Population size, population stability and economic development are some of the socio-economic factors that eventually affect turnout and here is, in fact, where the problem originates from. The rule of thumb is higher the population, higher the number of eligible voters. But individuals that constitute a large population generally tend to develop the feeling of their vote being unimportant. “There are millions out there who will vote”, and “What difference will a single vote of mine make?” are some phrases we all encountered in last few weeks. Therefore, the impact of each vote is greater in countries with smaller populations thus convincing more and more people to turn out to vote in an election. Consequently, having the largest youth population in country’s history is itself not an achievement until we manage to convince the currently eligible voters and those who will be eligible by next elections to cast their votes.

Another contributor is the time a population has lived in an area so that it could have better knowledge of local issues and candidates and is more concerned about the political decisions that affect daily lives. In Pakistan, however, feudalism, bonded labour and indifference are such termites that have been making the very foundations of this country hollow. Despite living in an area since many generations, people of rural and feudal areas have failed to discern between right and wrong, put aside their allegiances, and gain enough courage to vote against their maalik. The most pertinent example one could think of to compare such a situation in Pakistan with is the Indian-occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir whose people, despite all atrocities, curfews and oppression, presented a remarkable figure of 65.23 percent as their turnout in the 2014 Legislative Assembly election. Thus it is evident that despite being the denizens of Pakistan, we, as a nation, cannot stand against our lords for betterment of our forthcoming generations, or are too apathetic towards our present and future to use this fundamental right and cast or votes. We have some pre-conceived notions which shackle our ability to realise for a moment that a blast in Quetta cannot be a question mark on the security of voters in Lahore or Karachi. For some, the blast was just another driving force to vote and bring about a change while for others, it was an excuse not to exercise their right.

Perhaps this withdrawal from politics is owing to the third socio-economic factor, i.e. economic development. A state where the lion’s share is enduring economic hardship and struggling to fulfil its basic needs cannot expect anything except a figure less than 99. People not having access to even basic level of education keeps them from understanding how their vote is expected to affect the direction of government policies. For them it is actually all about searching for work on the day of polls or selling their votes in exchange of qeeme wala naan and a plate of biryani.

This brings us to the factor of age which is also the sole criterion for voters in Pakistan. While youth voter apathy was a major concern in the past, it is this faction which kindles the hope of seeing a change today as one job that our media has done very well is to awaken the conscious of young voters of the country. They now convince their elders to not lose hope and to stop their votes from getting wasted or misused. Thus the only reason which could justify non-participation of a youth in elections is failing to procure a CNIC.

And this is a problem not only for youngsters but also women and transgenders who are not registered as citizens by heads of their families, and are thus not issued CNICs, and face difficulties in getting themselves registered because of belonging to the third gender, respectively. The gap between registered men and women voters, however, is too big to be believable, the difference being 11 million in 2013 and 12 million this time. Procuring an ID card is not an easy task for women, thanks to the patriarchal nature of society where out-dated customs have remained unchallenged due to lack of education. The general elections of 2013, however, were unique in this regard that many women turned out in significant numbers for the first time after getting their CNICs for the first time. The situation has only improved since then.

Transgender persons have faced different challenges. The compulsion to choose between the options of ‘male’ and ‘female’ blurred their real identity. Furthermore, disowned by parents at early ages, these members of our society are usually unaware of their fathers’ names, the information being a prerequisite for issuance of a CNIC. Both the issues, however, were dealt with one by one by NADRA which, in 2012, provided the community with three gender categories to choose from on the registration form. In 2017, the authority introduced a new registration policy wherein a ‘guru’ may serve as a head of the applicant for the verification person in case of anonymity of father’s name. All these steps have only revamped the conditions of voting.

Yet, the voter turnout was not 99 percent. The one percent allowance can be given only for the ill as ensuring that emigrants and those touring abroad could also cast their votes was responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan. If five years are not enough to develop a system, then only God knows how much time it would take.

The current figures are not depressing but such numbers cannot metamorphose the system. If this percentage cannot increase despite all the favourable conditions then the number of mourners should also not increase despite all the hardships and corruption. If the head has not been counted, the tongue should also not complain.