KARACHI: Voters turnout in all the three phases of the local government elections held last year was almost half of the more than 17 million voters across Sindh, with the least electoral enthusiasm shown by the provincial capital.

Figures shared by the Election Commission of Pakistan show that most turnout (58 per cent) was recorded in the second phase of the LG elections in which 14 districts of Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions went to the polls on Nov 19, 2015.

Tharparkar, one of the least developed peripheral districts falling in Mirpurkhas division, showed maximum interest in polling where 70pc of its around 419,000 voters cast their ballots. This district was almost swept by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party.

With overall 36.8pc turnout in the final phase of the LG elections on Dec 5, Karachi East district gave the dismal figure of a mere 29pc turnout when just 347,000 out of around 1.2 million voters polled their votes. The turnout of voters was 30pc in Karachi South, 34pc in the largest Karachi Central district, 37pc in Korangi.

In Karachi, Malir district’s 49pc turnout was the healthiest where 266,601 out of 547,207 voters cast their votes. It was followed by Karachi West district, which recorded 42pc turnout where more than 628,000 out of 1.5 million voters turned up to polling stations.

“The [36pc turnout] figure in Karachi should disappoint all, as this is the city that needs an effective local government system the most,” said a Sindh government official.

In the rest of Sindh, Kashmore Kandhkot district had the poorest figures that recorded just 45.9pc turnout, followed by 47.4pc of Qambar Shahdadkot district. Some 50pc of Hyderabad district voters used their ballot papers, while none of the remaining districts had turnout less than 51pc.

The figures are not complete as yet as municipal elections in entire Sanghar district and parts of Badin have been postponed by the election commission upon government’s request owing to security reasons. The new schedules for the elections in the two districts had been announced twice only to be cancelled. The election commission, however, has not yet shared with the media the overall figures of polling trends particularly which show how many votes each party received overall.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2016