A Booth of One's Own: Gender and Turnout in Pakistan
P4-03
Presented by: Andy Harris
How does gender segregation at the polling place shape political participation? Gender-specific polling stations are common in an increasing number of developing countries. Common arguments in favor of gender-segregated polling stations assert that they facilitate female electoral participation, but no empirical evidence supports this assertion. However, quantifying the effect of administrative decisions like gender-segregation is empirically challenging since most countries have either gender-segregated or mixed stations, but rarely both. We examine this question in Pakistan using observational and experimental data. First, we use data from the 2018 Pakistani General Election, which featured female-only, male-only, and combined polling stations across the country to demonstrate how gender segregation shapes turnout by gender. Second, we use a conjoint experiment with 2500 Pakistani households to assess how polling station characteristics -- like gender segregation and ease-of-accessibility -- affect citizens' propensity to vote. Focus group discussions, along with interviews with election administrators and women's rights activists, aid in dissecting the possible mechanisms generating gender gaps in political participation in Pakistan.