Voting Behavior in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during The 2018 General Elections: A Case Study of NA-19 District Swabi

Abstract

Voting behavior has a great importance in the electoral politics. The core objectives of the current study were to explore the electoral determinants and understand how it effects the voting behavior in NA-19 district Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the 2018 general elections. Quantitative approach was followed for this study. The population were registered voters belonging to NA-19 District Swabi in 2018 General Elections. In NA-19 Swabi, the total number of registered votes in 2018 elections were 4,63,621. The sample size was selected through simple random sampling technique, which was 400 registered voters’ of 2018 elections, belonging to NA-19. For data collection, a questionnaire was constructed on the basis of several socio-political, economic, and religious determinants. The questionnaire was validated before data collection and its reliability was ensured. The collected data was properly tabulated, analyzed and interpreted in the light of the responses given by the respondents. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the voters of Swabi NA-19 casted their votes in order to fulfill their national responsibility and some of the voters casted their votes and the respondent’s favored women participation in the voting process. The findings also revealed that majority of the respondents responded that it was not important to vote based on participation of the candidate in joyful and sorrowful events. No systematic research had been conducted on voting behavior in district Swabi of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This research is an attempt to fill the research gap or at least an addition to the growing body of literature. The results of this research will provide information for the guidance of stake holders including political parties, politicians, candidates, research students, and election commission of Pakistan.