UPPER DIR, July 1: The number of women voters has registered a sharp decline of 42.34 per cent in the new electoral rolls despite increase in population at the rate of 2.8 per cent annually.

According to the rolls, at present on display at various centres, the number of women voters is 170,441 against the previous 188,085, recording a decrease of 17,644 voters.

However, the number of men voters has registered an increase of 11,620 votes.

In the previous list, there were 118,983 men registered as voters. In the current list, the number of men voters has increased to 130,603.

In the previous list, the registered women voters were 69,102 though none of them cast vote in the 2002 elections and local government polls.

In the new list, the number of registered women voters decreased to 39,838 thus the names of 29,264 voters are missing from the rolls.

The decrease in the number of women voters has come as a setback to different quarters, including the NGOs struggling for women’s participation in the political process.

With regard to fall in the registered voters, some circles said that women in Upper Dir were not willing to register their names due to local traditions.