Voter fraud: 65% of votes in Balochistan were bogus
Balochistan had the highest rate of fake voters during the 2008 general election, according to findings from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
A glance at statistics from the province do not reflect well on the electoral process. In Killa Abdullah there were total of 387,823 registered voters and only 70,820 could be verified. In Kech, of the 218,953 registered voters only 84,500 were legitimate. In Loralai there were 226,658 registered voters, of which a meagre 52,657 could be verified. Of Jaffarbabad’s 391,608 registered voters, only 98,919 were not bogus.
The legitimacy of our current government has been severely questioned by recent findings that almost half of the entries in voter lists at the last election were fake.
The startling facts emerged as the ECP and NADRA were preparing new voter lists based on computerised national identity cards (CNICs). Discrepancies emerged between the electoral rolls used for last general election and succeeding by-polls held so far.
(Read: Democratic process - Balochistan seeks quick completion of voters’ list)
The official documents, copies of which are available with The Express Tribune, reveal serious flaws in the electoral system used in the 2008 general election. Among the 81.2 million voters registered, 37 million were either ghost voters, multiple entries or the voter was registered without any authentic proof of identity. The figures for dubious entries were as follows: 65 per cent in Balochistan, 62 per cent in FATA, 54 per cent in Sindh, 43 per cent in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 41 per cent in Punjab.
The 2007 electoral rolls were an updated version of lists compiled by the ECP for elections held in the 90s and 2002.
Statistics from around the country are alarming. Larkana, the hometown of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, had 484,727 fake entries against 240,762 genuine registered voters who could be verified. The town had a total of 725,489 registered voters.
The district of Multan, from where Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s stalwart Makhdoom Javed Hashmi were elected to the National Assembly, had 1.16 million bogus entries out of a total 2.2 million registered voters.
Karachi had more seats than any other city in the national and provincial legislatures, and a total of 6.6 million registered voters. Only 3.9 million could be verified. A glaring 2.7 million entries had been fake.
Similarly, Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city and capital of most populous province Punjab, had a total of 3.7 million registered voters. Among them 2.1 million have been declared genuine and the remaining 1.6 million could not be verified.
Islamabad, the capital and considered the most developed city in the country, was not free of electoral fraud. Out of the total 482,548 registered voters, 153,965 were bogus entries. Peshawar had a total of 1.2 million registered voters. Of these, 610,197, just over half, were fake. Quetta had a total of 652,799 registered voters. Among these, 323,837 could not be verified as genuine registered voters.
The findings make uneasy reading for the incumbent national and provincial legislatures. The electoral system has been uncovered as falling well short of fair democratic standards.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2011.
COMMENTS (12)
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@Vinod: Empty words and hollow promises. Remorse? Is that what you offer to the families of more than 2000 Muslims who died in the Babri Masjid Riots? Is that what you'll offer to the thousands who were killed in the Gujrat riots? I think you should start by putting the Chief Minister of Gujrat of the time on trial for overseeing the massacre, as your own investigation reports indicate. That Act you mentioned, IS STILL ON THE TABLE, and will remain so. Talk when you pass it, nay, when you enforce it! If you're so bought on the idea of Indian democracy, then why don't you let the people of Occupied Kashmir enjoy democracy and exercise their fundamental right of self determination? Think of Nehru and the promise he made to the world when he said that a plebiscite will be held in Kashmir. Honour you commitments first before reminding me what MA Jinnah said!
@Omair Shakil: Not only me entire India will never forget Babri Masjid and Gujarat-- NEVER. It is a black patch on our democracy and way of life in India. It may take time but law has got long arms. We are truely and honestly ashamed of these and many more. We are constantly working to get over these. Event a law by the name of "Protection of Minority Act"is on the table. We Know our shortcomings and will overcome. But tell me honestly how many temples have been raised to ground and their land swallowed in Pakistan. Any case pending any remorse? Think of MA Jinnah, father of your nation, and what he said in your parliament? Any one to honour his commitment?
@Vinod: Thank you for your rant. But you have completely missed the point of my comment. My comment is about bad journalism, im not trying to defend the government. In fact im sure there were plenty of fraudulent voters but all 65% of voters who could not be verified were not fraudulent. There would have been many other reasons why some of them could not be verified such as data entry errors, missing or outdated information and so on. Even in the worlds most advanced countries there is a huge problem verifying voter lists let alone a complete backwater like Baluchistan.
@ VINOD: Aren't you forgetting the Babri Masjid and Gujrat riots? India has a LONG way to go before it can claim to be a teacher of equal rights and co-existence.
so in real terms, the present government is NOT DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED???
My age is was 26 when I registered with Election Commission of Pakistan three years back. When I checked later on to see if my vote is registered I was astonished to know that my age was mentioned as 62 (...which means I have just 3 years left to death.) Till this date no one has come to our place to get our family registered. Anyone in Election Commission in the Federal Capital listening?
Thanks to Imran Khan for removing these fake votes!!
These voter lists were prepared under the military govt of Mush and not the current political govt. Blaming and targeting the current govt for the crimes committed by Mush govt is unfair, shameless and undemocratic. In fact it is the current govt which is not continuing with those bogus lists and letting the election commission work independently. The truth is the voter lists showed the extent of corruption in Pakistani society during the past and present. .
Just because they could not be verified does not necessarily mean they were fake. Because they couldn't be verified they MAY be fake. This is really bad interpretation of statistics.