ECP to register 174,845 women voters in two-district pilot

The Election Commission of Pakistan will run a pilot project in Kasur district of Punjab and Qambar Shahdadkot district of Sindh from December 2026 to February 2027 to register 174,845 women as voters, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported on 31 October.

The commission's stated purpose is to narrow the gap between men and women on the electoral rolls by improving access to identity cards and voter registration services, according to the APP report.

The Election Commission is the constitutional body that conducts elections in Pakistan and maintains the electoral rolls.

APP's headline put the target at 175,000 women. UrduPoint, which also carried the announcement, reported that the pilot aims to register more than 174,000 women voters in the two districts. The figure in the body of the APP report is 174,845. Both outlets give the same December 2026 to February 2027 window and the same two districts, one in Punjab and one in Sindh.

Neither report named the official who announced the project, gave the date on which the commission approved it, or said what it will cost. Neither gave a district-wise split of the 174,845 registrations, explained how Kasur and Qambar Shahdadkot were selected, or stated the current size of the gender gap on the rolls.

Kasur lies in Punjab, south of Lahore. Qambar Shahdadkot is in northern Sindh. The pilot covers one district in each province.

The reports link voter registration to the issuance of identity cards and describe easier access to the cards as the route to higher registration among women.

The pilot is to close in February 2027. The reports did not say whether the commission will extend it to other districts, when it will publish results, or what measure it will use to judge whether the project worked.