NIC condition: EC to move summary to President

The Election Commission (EC) would move a summary to the President General Pervez Musharraf seeking his nod to do away with the condition of National Identity Card (NIC) for casting vote. The decision to move a summary was taken here on Wednesday following a meeting among the members of Election Commission to review the situation arising out of the Supreme Court order.
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice Qazi Muhammad Farooq (Retd) chaired the meeting while its members Justice Nasim Sikandar, Judge, Lahore High Court, Justice Ahmed Khan Lashari, Judge, High Court of Balochistan and Secretary EC attended the meeting.
The Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission to evolve a mechanism that no eligible voter is denied of his basic right to vote in connection with a constitutional petition Benazir Bhutto vs Chief Election Commissioner and others. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson had moved the Apex court against new electoral roll contending that it did not enroll as many as 20 million eligible voters.
The CEC apprised members of the situation arising out of the order passed by the Supreme Court in response to Benazir Bhutto's petition and discussed methodology to implement it. Following the discussion taking into consideration all pros and cons of the issue, the Election Commission decided that a summary be sent to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs for approval by the President of the proposal to make some amendments in the Electoral Rolls Rules 1974.
The CEC would seek amendments in 1974 electoral rules to omit the condition of NIC of each voters, as no such provision exists in the main law viz Section 6 of the electoral roll Act 1974.
The Ministry of parliamentary Affairs would also be asked to amend the Section 18 (1) of the Electoral Rolls Act 1974 as well as Section 33 (1) of the representation of the people Act 1976 suitably respectively to exclude from Section 18 (1) the condition of production of Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) before the registration officer for the purpose of enrolment as voter.