Electoral reforms: Poll contestants to get voters list sans women’s pictures

Decision taken in the light of objections of political, religious parties

ISLAMABAD: Political parties and candidates contesting elections will be provided a copy of the voters list of their respective constituencies, without the pictures of female voters, the parliamentary panel on election reforms decided on Wednesday.

However, the official election staff would be provided the complete list with pictures of every male and female voter, Zahid Hamid, who heads the committee, told the media after an in-camera session of the panel.

Some political parties, especially religious groups, had objected to the proposal of handing out electoral rolls bearing pictures of every voter. They were of the view that lists with pictures of female voters would violate social norms.

The Hamid-led subcommittee is vetting more than 1,200 proposals put forward by the stakeholders to reform the country’s electoral system.

The panel has also asked the top polls supervisory body to float tenders for 400 electronic voting machines (EVMs) for a test run in the by-elections from September this year. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will float the tenders next week, Hamid said.

Moreover, the ECP has been asked to submit financial requirements for purchasing 300,000 EVMs for future, he added.

The committee will receive a report of international experts on voting rights to overseas Pakistanis, which will be taken up in a next meeting.

The parliamentary committee on electoral reforms was constituted in August 2014 with the aim to come up with a legislative package to improve the electoral system. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar heads the main committee, which was supposed to complete its work within three months.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2016.