Though the registered voters in Pakistan have reached a staggering 125.96 million, the number of transgender population is still unclear and considered 'very low'.
The community was allowed to use the name of their 'gurus' as parents in their Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) a couple of years ago, but the registration ratio remained largely unchanged.
According to an estimate, the number of the registered transgenders in the country stands at 5,000.
Low registration
One of the reasons for the low registration is that the families generally avoid registering a member as a transgender as they are of the view that it will complicate things for them, such as in terms of property distribution.
The resultant is a low number of transgender persons registered with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
Past measures
The rights activists had reportedly hailed an earlier court ruling to issue free CNICs to the gender during the previous next general elections.
Former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, while heading a two-judge bench, had ordered to constitute a special committee to oversee the provision of CNICs to the community.
Moreover, in order to enhance registration of trans persons and create awareness in this regard, NADRA had launched a countrywide campaign titled “trans-rights are human rights”.
The authority also conducted remedial training of field officials on Dec, 13 2021 in order to sensitise them with regard to the issue.
Registered voters
As per the latest official data, the male voter population stands at 68.05 million, comprising 54.02 percent of the registered voters. The number of female voters is recorded at 57.91 million, accounting for 45.98 percent of the electorate.
The total number of voters is around; 60.8 million are males (54.02 percent) and 50.7 million are females (45.98 percent).
In addition, voters in the age bracket of 18 to 25 years are almost 20.3 million; from 26 to 35 years voters, 30.2 million; and from 36 to 45 years of age, 20.7 million.
In terms of the provinces, the total voters in Punjab are 71.61 million (one million in Islamabad); 26.49 million in Sindh; 21.58 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some 5.26 million voters in Balochistan.