Delimitation of Constituencies Act, 1974

This 1974 Act sets out how Pakistan's Election Commission draws the boundaries of electoral constituencies for the National Assembly, Provincial Assemblies, and (after later amendments) local governments. Section 3 gives the Election Commission (established under Article 218 of the Constitution) the job of delimiting territorial constituencies, and a later-added Section 3A extends this to local government elections as well.

Section 7 allocates seats in the National Assembly among the provinces and territories based on population, setting out a table of general seats, reserved women's seats, and totals for Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital, plus ten seats reserved for non-Muslims nationwide, with seats reallocated after each census. Section 8 similarly allocates general, women's and non-Muslim reserved seats for the Provincial Assemblies of each province.

Section 9 lays down the principles the Commission must follow when drawing boundaries — constituencies should be geographically compact, follow existing administrative boundaries where practical, account for communication and public convenience, and be roughly equal in population to other constituencies for the same Assembly. Section 10 requires the Commission to publish a preliminary report and list of constituencies, invite public representations within a set period, and then publish a final report; Section 10A lets the Commission later amend the final list on its own initiative if needed.

Section 11 is a notable "ouster clause": it bars any court from questioning the validity of a delimitation or any Commission proceeding under this Act. The extract shows this Act has been amended many times since 1974 (including changes in 1984, 1988, 1989, 2012 and 2016), so anyone checking specific seat numbers or procedural deadlines should verify them against the current official text and the latest census-based reallocation.