The Election Commission (EC) has revised the results of the February 12 referendum, issuing a new gazette 13 days after the original results were published, with the updated figures showing 1,073,616 fewer total votes cast than previously reported.
The revised gazette, signed by EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed on February 25, also reflects a decrease in both “yes” and “no” votes, while the number of cancelled ballots has increased.
The referendum was held to implement the constitutional proposals outlined in the July National Charter.
On February 13, the day after the vote, the EC secretary privately announced the referendum results alongside the parliamentary election results. A gazette was issued later that night.
However, the figures announced publicly on the afternoon of February 13 did not match those published in the gazette issued the same evening, prompting confusion and media scrutiny.
Following reports of discrepancies, the EC revised the unofficial results that night.
Initial results
On February 13, the EC secretary said that 48,074,429 “yes” votes had been cast nationwide, while 22,565,627 votes were cast for “no.”
The gazette published that night stated that the total votes cast in the referendum were 77,695,230.
Of those, 7,422,637 ballots were cancelled, leaving 72,386,000 valid votes.
The gazetted results listed 48,266,000 “yes” votes and 22,717,260 “no” votes.
Revised figures
According to the revised gazette issued on February 25, the total number of votes cast in the referendum now stands at 76,621,407 -- 1,073,616 fewer than previously reported.
The updated figures show:
Cancelled votes: 7,435,196
Total valid votes: 69,186,211
“Yes” votes: 47,225,980
“No” votes: 21,196,231
Compared with the earlier gazette, both “yes” and “no” votes have declined, while cancelled ballots have slightly increased.
