It is rare that by-election results generate as much interest and prompt as much commentary as was the case with the polls in the national and four provincial assemblies’ constituencies held on Oct 14 and 21 — just short of three months since the PTI swept the general election, emerging victorious at the centre, and in KP and Punjab. At stake in the by-election were 12 National Assembly seats and 26 provincial assembly seats, leading to a total of 38 contests. Despite national-level interest, however, voter turnout in the by-election dropped sharply to 32 per cent, compared to the general election. The percentage of invalid votes, which was around 3pc in the general election, dropped to 1.77pc in the by-election, indicating a welcome but rather surprising improvement.

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