A Booth of One’s Own: Female-Only Polling Stations’ Effectiveness in Pakistan

• In Event: Gender and Politics in Developing Countries

Abstract

Do female-only polling stations encourage more women to turn out to vote, especially in developing countries where female political participation is constrained by societal and structural factors? Though some countries have gender-segregated polling stations to encourage women to cast their vote, it is unclear whether that actually improves turnout because separate polling stations may also require women to be independently mobile, which is often not the case in many developing countries. Thus, evaluating the effectiveness of female-only polling stations is crucial for understanding how to reduce gender gaps in political participation but is empirically challenging since most countries have either gender-segregated or mixed stations. I address this question using new data from the 2018 Pakistani General Election, which used a mix of female-only, male-only, and mixed polling stations across the country. This setup allows me to match different types of stations within the same neighborhood to identify the effects of female-only stations on female turnout, while holding constant other factors that might vary geographically and also affect gender-specific turnout.

Author

• Rabia Malik, New York University-Abu Dhabi