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Nadra says it can verify thumb impressions made with both magnetic, regular ink | Officials fail to convince Reforms Committee on record of rejected votes
ISLAMABAD - Brushing aside PTI’s rigging allegations, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has termed the general elections as the most transparent in the country’s history, while Nadra said it can verify thumb impressions made with both magnetic and regular ink.
Presenting a ‘fact-sheet’ before the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms (PCER) to allay the impression of mass rigging in the elections, ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan said on Monday the transparency of the General Elections 2013 was acknowledged by both the local and international election observers.
The committee meeting was held here under the chair of Senator Ishaq Dar and it was briefed by the ECP secretary who later also responded to the queries of the members. Ishtiaq tacitly criticised the parties which had raised objections to the fairness of the elections during his submission before the Parliamentary Committee and insisted that by and large the elections were held in most transparent fashion.
The ECP secretary also rubbished the allegation of getting the ballot papers printed from some private printing presses and asked Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan to come up with proof in this connection. He however admitted that 100 per cent transparency in polls was not possible but he insisted the polls were fairest in the country’s history.
To a question from Syed Naveed Qamar about the numbering of the ballot papers, he said that as they were short of staff and the machine was also obsolete they had hired the services of some 48 persons to accomplish the job.
Admitting laxity in the administrative control over the staff during the elections, Ishtiaq Ahmad said that the Returning Officers and some other staff engaged in the elections were not under their control. Had the legislation regarding the administrative control been passed by the Parliament, the Election Commission would have full command of the situation, he explained.
Appearing before the committee, Nadra Director General Syed Muzaffar Nadir said whether done through magnetic or normal ink, if the thumb impression is clear without any overlapping or misprint it would be read by the National Database Registration Authority system. “The Nadra never said that it cannot verify thumb impression of the voters rather some thumb impression may be unreadable due to their overlapping or misprinting,” he said.
In reply to the query by a member about the record of the rejected votes, officials of both Narda and ECP failed to satisfy the members. However, Nadra officials said that the votes could be verified through thumb impressions on the counterfoil of the ballots available with the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The secretary said that a number of new features were adopted in the General Election 2013. He said the initiatives included voters’ photographs on the electoral rolls for voters’ identity, SMS 8300 facility for obtaining voting details on the cell phone, use of magnetized ink, Result Management System and many others.
He said that that a total of 180 million ballot papers were printed and the entire record containing the names of the representatives of the Returning Officers along with details of exact number of ballot papers books handed over to them is available with the government printing presses. He said the record could be produced as and when required by any competent forum that may be appointed for the purpose of investigation of the allegations.
Ishtiaq Ahmad clarified that the Judicial Officers were appointed as District Returning Officers on the demand of major political parties, including the PTI. The committee also considered taking action against the PTI members of the committee who were abstaining the committee’s proceedings without any intimation for the third consecutive sitting of the committee.
The committee was informed that in total around Rs 4.73 billion were spent on the conduct of elections and the major chunk of the money was spent on the hiring of the staff for holding the elections. Mentioning the shortage of the staff at the disposal of Election Commission, Secretary Ishtiaq said that against the allocated strength of 1061, the commission was having some 654 staff members out of which around 50 retire every year, further decreasing the number of staffers at the Commission.
Ishaq Dar said that the ECP adopted the same procedure for conducting the general elections which is being practiced for the last 40 years. If there are any shortcomings in the system they should be removed, Dar said, suggesting the ECP to introduce biometric system in next general elections to ensure transparency.
Dar said that the thumb impression through magnetic ink was not mandatory, and when the other record such as photograph, name, CNIC number were already available to verify voters, the thumb impression was an additional thing to make the process more credible.
The minister said that the ECP should have given immediate response when the issues like printing of ballot papers and magnetic ink were raised. Talking about the rejected votes, Dar said that 32 votes out of 1000 votes were rejected in 2013 elections compared to 27 votes out of 1000 in 2008.
ECP claims 2013 elections fairest in country’s history
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ISLAMABAD - Brushing aside PTI’s rigging allegations, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has termed the general elections as the most transparent in the country’s history, while Nadra said it can verify thumb impressions made with both magnetic and regular ink.
Presenting a ‘fact-sheet’ before the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms (PCER) to allay the impression of mass rigging in the elections, ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan said on Monday the transparency of the General Elections 2013 was acknowledged by both the local and international election observers.
The committee meeting was held here under the chair of Senator Ishaq Dar and it was briefed by the ECP secretary who later also responded to the queries of the members. Ishtiaq tacitly criticised the parties which had raised objections to the fairness of the elections during his submission before the Parliamentary Committee and insisted that by and large the elections were held in most transparent fashion.
The ECP secretary also rubbished the allegation of getting the ballot papers printed from some private printing presses and asked Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan to come up with proof in this connection. He however admitted that 100 per cent transparency in polls was not possible but he insisted the polls were fairest in the country’s history.
To a question from Syed Naveed Qamar about the numbering of the ballot papers, he said that as they were short of staff and the machine was also obsolete they had hired the services of some 48 persons to accomplish the job.
Admitting laxity in the administrative control over the staff during the elections, Ishtiaq Ahmad said that the Returning Officers and some other staff engaged in the elections were not under their control. Had the legislation regarding the administrative control been passed by the Parliament, the Election Commission would have full command of the situation, he explained.
Appearing before the committee, Nadra Director General Syed Muzaffar Nadir said whether done through magnetic or normal ink, if the thumb impression is clear without any overlapping or misprint it would be read by the National Database Registration Authority system. “The Nadra never said that it cannot verify thumb impression of the voters rather some thumb impression may be unreadable due to their overlapping or misprinting,” he said.
In reply to the query by a member about the record of the rejected votes, officials of both Narda and ECP failed to satisfy the members. However, Nadra officials said that the votes could be verified through thumb impressions on the counterfoil of the ballots available with the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The secretary said that a number of new features were adopted in the General Election 2013. He said the initiatives included voters’ photographs on the electoral rolls for voters’ identity, SMS 8300 facility for obtaining voting details on the cell phone, use of magnetized ink, Result Management System and many others.
He said that that a total of 180 million ballot papers were printed and the entire record containing the names of the representatives of the Returning Officers along with details of exact number of ballot papers books handed over to them is available with the government printing presses. He said the record could be produced as and when required by any competent forum that may be appointed for the purpose of investigation of the allegations.
Ishtiaq Ahmad clarified that the Judicial Officers were appointed as District Returning Officers on the demand of major political parties, including the PTI. The committee also considered taking action against the PTI members of the committee who were abstaining the committee’s proceedings without any intimation for the third consecutive sitting of the committee.
The committee was informed that in total around Rs 4.73 billion were spent on the conduct of elections and the major chunk of the money was spent on the hiring of the staff for holding the elections. Mentioning the shortage of the staff at the disposal of Election Commission, Secretary Ishtiaq said that against the allocated strength of 1061, the commission was having some 654 staff members out of which around 50 retire every year, further decreasing the number of staffers at the Commission.
Ishaq Dar said that the ECP adopted the same procedure for conducting the general elections which is being practiced for the last 40 years. If there are any shortcomings in the system they should be removed, Dar said, suggesting the ECP to introduce biometric system in next general elections to ensure transparency.
Dar said that the thumb impression through magnetic ink was not mandatory, and when the other record such as photograph, name, CNIC number were already available to verify voters, the thumb impression was an additional thing to make the process more credible.
The minister said that the ECP should have given immediate response when the issues like printing of ballot papers and magnetic ink were raised. Talking about the rejected votes, Dar said that 32 votes out of 1000 votes were rejected in 2013 elections compared to 27 votes out of 1000 in 2008.
ECP claims 2013 elections fairest in country’s history
Billi doodh ki rakhwali!
@Zarvan
@Jzaib
@Strike X
@Akheilos
@AsianUnion
@khawaja07
@Aether
@Syed.Ali.Haider
@Leader
@SUPARCO
@Peaceful Civilian
@syedali73
@xyxmt
@Fracker
@KURUMAYA
@Jazzbot
@mr42O
@Stealth
@balixd
@TankMan
@khawaja07
@GIANTsasquatch
@Junaid B
@Guleen Ahmed
@HRK
@Pakistani shaheens
@sur
@Saifkhan12
@chauvunist
@Evil Flare
@pak-marine
@Tayyab1796
@Spy Master
@SBD-3
@cb4
@WishLivePak
@Proudpakistaniguy
@chauvunist
@Ahmad1996
@Saifkhan12
@raazh
