Topic: Pakistan Election 2013

Constitutional Importance

Article 219 of the constitution of Pakistan enshrines the responsibility of preparing electoral rolls for both the National and Provincial Assemblies. The complete enrollment of all the eligible voters throughout the country is an indispensable action in ensuring that free, fair and transparent elections take place.

Whats different this time around

One marked difference between the electoral rolls this time around in 2007, is the fact that around 36% of the voters or around 30 million voters have gone unregistered as compared to 2002. If historical considerations are taken into account, the growth of 2.7% in the number of voters per annum, should have meant that at least 82 million more voters should have been registered this time around.

An important development, for the very first time in Pakistan, is that the Election Commission of Pakistan has displayed a draft of computerized electoral rolls at around 45,403 centres in each of the four provinces in the country. This initiative would allow criticism, invitation of claims and reservations. On the 31st of July 2012, The Election Commission of Pakistan announced the final printing of computerized electoral rolls which would provide the nation with a transparent document. The computerized system has also resulted in the elimination of 35 million bogus voters from of the list.

Along with the computerized electoral rolls, the Election Commission of Pakistan has also announced a comprehensive SMS service for voting details. This initiative will facilitate over 80 million voters who would be able to get primary information about the registration of their vote. The convenience of this initiative can be understood in light of a voter having the ability to send his CNIC number to 8300, and get valid information about the registration of ones vote. There is also a degree of confidentiality about the SMS service, where the residential address and other particulars would be kept confidential, which ensures that the information would not be misused.

Composition of Electoral Rolls

Out of a total of 84,364,375 voters about 56% would consist of male voters. The voters stats according to the Election Commission of Pakistan, (Final Electoral Rolls) for each of the four provinces along with the the Federal Area and FATA hints at a higher percentage of male voters, which is similar to the national total. The percentage for male voters against the women voters is the highest in FATA, which is due to the security situation as well as the cultural fabric of the region.