Electoral system for national legislature

Constitution 1973 (as amended in 2015)

51. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

1. There shall be three hundred and forty-two seats for members in the National Assembly, including seats reserved for women and non-Muslims. […]

3.The seats in the National Assembly referred to in clause (1), except as provided in clause (4), shall be allocated to each Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital as under:-

Balochistan: General Seats 14, Women 3, Total 17

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: General Seats 35, Women 8, Total 43

Punjab General: Seats 148, Women 35, Total 183

Sindh: Seats 61, Women 14, Total 75

Federally Administered Tribal Areas: Seats 12, Women -, Total 12

Federal Capital: General 2, Seats -, Total 2

Total: General Seats 272, Women 60, Total 332

4. In addition to the number of seats referred to in clause (3), there shall be, in the National Assembly, ten seats reserved for non-Muslims.

5. The seats in the National Assembly shall be allocated to each Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital on the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding census officially published.

6. For the purpose of election to the National Assembly,-

a. the constituencies for the general seats shall be single member territorial constituencies and the members to fill such seats shall be elected by direct and free vote in accordance with law;

b. each Province shall be a single constituency for all seats reserved for women which are allocated to the respective Provinces under clause (3);

c. the constituency for all seats reserved for non-Muslims shall be the whole country;

d. members to the seats reserved for women which are allocated to a Province under clause (3) shall be elected in accordance with law through proportional representation system of political parties' lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats secured by each political party from the Province concerned in the National Assembly:

Provided that for the purpose of this paragraph the total number of general seats won by a political party shall include the independent returned candidate or candidates who may duly join such political party within three days of the publication in the official Gazette of the names of the returned candidates; and

e. members to the seats reserved for non-Muslims shall be elected in accordance with law through proportional representation system of political parties' lists of candidates on the basis of total number of general seats won by each political party in the National Assembly:

Provided that for the purpose of this paragraph the total number of general seats won by a political party shall include the independent returned candidate or candidates who may duly join such political party within three days of the publication in the official Gazette of the names of the returned candidates.

Pakistan elections operates through a parallel electoral system with two components: PR lists and Majoritarian constituencies. Voting for 272 constituencies are done on a first-past-the-post basis. In addition, 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 seats are reserved for minorities, in proportion to the share of the contested seats won by each party. For more information on the PR component of the electoral system, one can read The National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies Allocation of Reserved Seats for Women and Non-Muslims (Procedure) Rules, 2002. It is available on page 89-95 of the Electoral Laws Consolidation.