The government will move a bill in the National Assembly session next week, making the computerised national identity card mandatory for registration in electoral lists to ensure transparency.
The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2011 is likely to remove objections on the authenticity of electoral rolls that were severely criticised by different quarters after coming under media scrutiny a few weeks ago.
An official said here on Sunday that the election commission is upgrading and verifying its database, adding that old identity cards were being cross-referenced. The bill was passed by the Senate during the current session.
Officials said the first phase of voter list verification will start in a couple of days with representatives from the election commission holding door-to-door visits and compiling data of family heads.
After the initial exercise, the commission will acquire data from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), compiling preliminary database for the next phase. Officials added that one of the flaws contained in the previous voters’ list was that any person could get himself registered from more than one city or town. The new system allows anyone to register from anywhere, but if that person tries to register elsewhere, his or her previous registration is automatically cancelled.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th, 2011.
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