ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said on Tuesday that it omitted the names of more than four million deceased voters from the voter lists in over eight years-from 2012 till date-keeping in view the related data of deceased voters provided to the electoral body by the local government authorities and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

In the revised voters lists of 2017-2018, the names of over 800,000 deceased voters were omitted, the ECP said in a statement. In the revised voter lists of 2019-2020, the names of more than 750,000 deceased voters were omitted, the statement added.

The ECP said it has directed the LG authorities to provide the data of the deceased voters to ECP on quarterly basis in accordance with Section 43 of Elections Act 2017, so that they can be omitted from the voter lists.

Section 43 reads, "Information regarding deaths.-On the direction of the Commission, the person in charge of any register of births and deaths in a local government or other authority shall submit relevant information regarding deceased persons from that register on prescribed form to the Registration Officer concerned on quarterly basis, who shall make necessary corrections in the electoral rolls accordingly."

On October 2, 2020, the ECP issued the final voter lists containing 115,748,753 registered voters including 64,078,616 male, 51,667,599 female, and 2,538 transgenders, showing an increase of 97,93,344 voters compared to 105,955,409 voters registered for 2018 general elections.

The male voters comprise 55 per cent of total voters registered in Pakistan, while the female voters comprise 45 percent, and transgenders 0.002 per cent, according to the voters' data issued by the ECP.

There are 66,236,144 registered voters in Punjab including 36,371,326 male voters (55 per cent of total voters in Punjab), 29,862,932 female voters (45 per cent), and 1,886 transgender voters in Punjab (0.003 per cent), the data showed.

In Sindh, there are 24,351,681 voters including 13,443,983 male voters (55 per cent of total registered voters in Sindh), 10,907,267 female voters (45 per cent), and 431 transgenders (0.002 per cent), the ECP data showed.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, there are 19,533,964 registered voters including 11,076,630 male voters (57 per cent of total registered voters in KP), 8,457,201 female voters (43 per cent), and 133 transgender voters (0.001 per cent), according to the data.

In Balochistan, there are 4,801,131 registered voters including 2,753,946 male voters (57 per cent of total registered voters in Balochistan), 2,047,104 female voters (43 per cent) and 81 transgender voters (0.002 per cent).

In Islamabad, there are 825,833 total registered voters including 432,731 male voters (52 per cent of total registered voters in Islamabad), 393,095 female voters, 48 per cent, and seven transgender voters (0.001 per cent).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020