Voter's List
THE preparation of voters` lists has always been a delicate task, and often rules have been bent for those without ID cards. This time, with Nadra-issued computerised ID cards, one expects far more clarity in the drafting of voters` lists. The draft list released by the Election Commission of Pakistan on Saturday has raised questions relating primarily to the number of voters deleted and added. A report in this paper says 37.18 million names on the 2007 list have been deleted, while the number added stands at 36.69 million. These names have been verified by Nadra, which is welcome. There has also been a decrease of about 500,000 voters; the current list shows 80.72 million verified voters. Punjab has witnessed an increase of two million verified voters, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also seen an overall increase. An d while the number of voters in Balochistan has decreased, most surprising are the figures for Sindh. ECP data shows the number of voters in the province has decreased by around two million compared to the 2007 list.
The foremost question is: who did the deleted votes belong to? Were they bogus votes? If this is the case then the poll results of 2008 will be called into question. There have been reports suggesting that many votes in the last election were dubious. Were the 36 million or so voters added because they filled in verification forms, or because they were on Nadra`s list of persons eligible to vote? Also, why the lower figure for Sindh? The figures are not in consonance with the generally accepted trend that internal migration in Pakistan occurs from north to south, drawing people to Sindh. We don`t know how many of these figures were arrived at and it is premature to jump to conclusions. However, the ECP must clarify the situation; the country`s chief election commissioner should address the issue and ensure that all anomalies are resolved before the final list is issued. Otherwise, the list would be suspect in the eyes of the public and possibly lead to a controversy that can be exploited.
Dawn.
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3 days left: if you have not registered your vote, or ECP hasnot visited your home, kindly get yourself registered by visiting the ECP office with necessary documents as mentioned in post one.