The Election Commission (EC) has made amendments to the declared results of the referendum held for the purpose of constitutional reform or the implementation of the July National Charter, following the student-people’s uprising of 2024. An additional gazette, published by order of the Commission, has altered the number of both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ votes. According to the revised figures, the total number of cast and valid votes has also decreased, although no specific reason for the amendment has been disclosed.
This amendment information was announced on Thursday (February 26) through an additional gazette signed by Akhtar Ahmed, Senior Secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat.
The EC’s notification stated that a referendum was held on February 12 to ascertain public consent regarding the ‘July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order, 2025’ and the proposal for constitutional reform, aimed at exercising the sovereign power of the people as manifested through the successful student-people’s uprising in July-August 2024. The results of that vote were published in a gazette on February 13.
The gazette stated that, according to the first gazette’s figures, the number of ‘Yes’ votes was 48,200,660, and ‘No’ votes was 22,071,726. The total number of cast votes, combining ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ votes, was 77,695,023. Of these, 7,422,637 votes were cancelled. Excluding the cancelled votes, the total number of valid votes stood at 70,272,386.
According to the revised gazette’s figures, the number of ‘Yes’ votes in the referendum is 47,225,980, and ‘No’ votes is 21,960,231. The total number of cast votes, combining ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ votes, now stands at 76,621,407. Among these, 7,435,196 votes were cancelled. Excluding the cancelled votes, the total number of valid votes stands at 69,186,211.
An analysis of the revised results shows a decrease of 974,680 ‘Yes’ votes compared to the previous figures. On the other hand, the number of ‘No’ votes decreased by 111,495. Interestingly, while valid votes decreased, the number of cancelled votes increased by 12,559. Overall, the total number of cast votes decreased by 1,073,616.
Although the Election Commission did not specify the exact reason for this amendment, it stated that the amended gazette was published by order of the Commission.