Increase in number of eligible voters in Pakistan

Islamabad:The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has published computerized electoral rolls for the next general elections, containing a total of 84.36 million eligible voters, roughly half of the country’s population.

The lists show an increase of 3.33 million over the number of registered voters at the time of last elections held in February 2008, which was 81.03 million.

In the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakthtunkhwa, the number of eligible voters has significantly risen while it has decreased in Sindh and Balochistan.

In Punjab, home to 60 percent of the country’s population, the number of registered voters has climbed to 48.30 million from 44.64 million and in Khyber Pakthtunkhawa it has gone up;to 12.06 million from 10.79 million. The number in Sindh and Balochistan has dropped to 18.43 million and 3.27 million from 19.53 million and 4.29 million respectively.

An ECP official, explaining the drop in the number of eligible voters,said that bogus, duplicate and multiple entries had been deleted and names of missed out voters included in the lists.

Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, speaking to reporters Wednesday in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, said that corrections could be made in the electoral rolls until the announcement of dates of parliamentary elections to elect a new National Assembly and four provincial legislatures.

President Asif Ali Zardari has said the next elections would be held on time. While the five-year tenures of the present assemblies and the Pakistan People’s Party government are due to expire in March 2013, the opposition parties are demanding that the elections be called without delay.

Ebrahim, who inspected the commission’s office in Quetta, told the media that no one should doubt the ECP’s resolve to conduct free, fair and transparent elections, He said accurate electoral rolls were vital for that purpose.

He said that the commission had done a commendable job in preparation of voter lists but for improvement, the country’s civil society, mainstream media and all the political parties should cooperate with it.