ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja said on Monday that a pilot project launched by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in 21 districts of the country to determine the reasons for huge disparity of 12.41 million votes between male and female voters was nearing its completion and all eligible voters were being included in the voter lists.
The pilot project was launched in July this year in 21 tehsils of 21 districts countrywide, the CEC said while addressing a ceremony organized in connection with National Voters Day at the ECP Secretariat. Officials from ECP, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) attended the event.
"We would ensure that no eligible voter is left out from being part of electoral process," the CEC said.
On October 2, this year, ECP issued the final voter lists containing 115,748,753 registered voters including 64,078,616 male, 51,667,599 female and 2,538 transgender persons, showing an increase of 97,93,344 voters compared to 105,955,409 voters registered for 2018 general elections.
The male voters comprised of 55 per cent of total voters registered in Pakistan while the female voters comprised of 45 percent and transgender persons 0.002 per cent, according to the voters' data issued by the ECP.
There were 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 were 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 transgender voters (0.002 per cent), the ECP data showed.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there were 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 were 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 were 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).
October 13, this year, ECP said 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 local government authorities and 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 2019-20, the names of more than 750,000 deceased voters were omitted, the statement added. The ECP said it 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."
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020