Electoral lists: Supreme Court concerned about ECP failure to remove 36m fake voters

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over inaction of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by not removing 36 million fake voters from the electoral lists to make them error-free. The apex court inquired from secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan whether the top electoral body, which is supposed to ensure free and fair elections, would continue using fake lists in the by-elections which could be held at any vacant seat.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry comprising Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani on a plea filed by Muabbashir Lukman, a TV journalist, who sought direction of the apex court for deletion of the fake voters from the lists besides directing Chief Election Commission to fulfil his constitutional obligations.
Disposing of the petition, the bench made it clear that this was not the job of the court to issue directive for holding population census. However, it said that ECP and Census Division could go ahead in achieving the objective as per constitution. The bench also observed that there was no second opinion that the existing electoral lists were full of errors like multiple and bogus entries, which was endorsed by ECP itself in its press release.
Ishtiaq apprised the bench that they were working on rectifying the lists for the last one and half year but pleaded the court to give time till December. He said that the ECP itself had initiated the process over certain flaws and sought assistance from National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). He assured the court that about 36 million entries with errors would be removed.
He further told the court after completion of census, the ECP with the assistance of Census Division would make correct entries on the basis of computerised national identity cards (CNICs). On the directives of the bench, Sher Afgan, additional secretary ECP read out the press release issued by the commission on the subject. Justice Chaudhry sarcastically said that ECP was in the know about the fake entries in the electoral lists. The ECP, the CJP remarked, had failed to discharge its duty in the best national interests.
"Do you want us to put some questions as how do you hold elections on the basis of electoral lists prepared in 2007? Are you holding elections on the basis of bogus lists?" he said, adding, "What is the use of such a huge manpower? Nothing has happened so far as electoral lists are concerned though the court had issued a directive in Benazir Bhutto's case."
The petitioner had prayed that such fake voters' lists should be immediately removed as there should not be any conflict between the details of voters' lists complied by NADRA and those of ECP. The ECP, in its first phase of preparations for the new electoral rolls, had found over 37 million voters registered in 2007 as dubious because they were either duplicate, multiple or bogus entries, he added.
This is pertinent to mention that some 37.2 million voters who were registered in 2007 and who exercised their right to vote in 2008 general elections had been declared fake thus creating doubts over the genuineness of the results. According to a statement issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, NADRA did not authenticate 37.2 million voters out of 82 million total registered voters in the voting lists of 2007.
Several parties including Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which won most seats in last general elections, had claimed that 2008 elections were far from being fair and the latest admission by government organisations of the existence of fake voting lists has vindicated their stance of large scale of bogus vote's casts.
NADRA has also registered 3.65 million new voters in its database after the last general elections that brought the total figure of registered voters to 85.4 million. For the verification of these votes NADRA had decided to launch a door-to-door campaign in July. The chief election commission of Pakistan has ordered for completion of the voter lists till December in view of the possibility of mid-term general later this year or in early 20012.