THE premise that democratic progress is contingent on women’s equal participation is a reality lost on our state.

Instead, highly gendered roles dictating women must not participate in public life have resulted in an increased electoral gender gap at 12.17m, according to recent data from the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The country’s electoral roll estimates the total number of voters at 97.01m — 54.5m of them men and 42.42m women. In response to this widening gap, the ECP has initiated a women voter registration campaign countrywide which, if implemented with tenacity and will, should ensure access to the ballot box for more women.

Earmarked for 79 districts, this campaign will see mobile Nadra registration vans issuing identity cards so that female voters are registered.

All doable, but implementation with political parties and civil society leading the way will determine the success of these electoral reforms under the new Elections Act, 2017.

Mass registration is the first step that will enable women to vote in the next election.

That the electoral gender gap is prevalent in 20 districts in the country with the largest voter gap in 17 districts of Punjab, followed by two districts in KP and one in Sindh, should be enough for the government to eliminate pervasive institutional and traditional barriers hindering electoral equity.

While mobilising women voters, the ECP must also send out a clear message to political parties that it will not tolerate the disenfranchisement of women as was evident in the 2013 elections in parts of KP when an illegal, misogynistic agreement between mainstream political parties kept women voters at home.

Repeatedly banning women voters is an offence that must not go unpunished. Under new legislation, the offence carries a three-year prison sentence and a fine of Rs100,000.

Holding town hall meetings and running campaigns urging more female participation in conservative constituencies with a history of barring female voters will inform communities why voting matters.

Also, it is a drawback when women are excluded from political party hierarchies because they are not considered influential enough to be awarded party tickets.

Female voters not only have the effect of electing more women into office, their votes also reshape the policy agenda and women’s relationship with politics.

Political parties must know that if women comprise half the electorate, all candidates will have to compete for their votes — and that calls for rethinking political priorities.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2017