2018 elections: ECP to ensure women’s participation in polls

Computerised Electoral Rolls introduced in 11 districts of Balochistan

QUETTA: Balochistan Election Commissioner Muhammad Naeem Majeed Jafar has said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was taking meaningful measures for the enhancement of the ratio of female voters and to ensure their equal participation in the electoral process.

Speaking during a meeting held to commemorate the National Voters’ Day at Governor House Balochistan, he said that the reason behind the celebration was to engage the maximum number of voters in the electoral process with special focus on women, the disabled and the minorities. He said that the constitution of Pakistan gave powers to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct transparent elections where every candidate must have an equal opportunity.
Emphasising the need to include female voters’ in the electoral process, he said that the ECP had taken several steps to encourage women participation.



“Election Act 2017 consists of articles which say any constituency where the ratio of female voters remains less that 10 per cent will be declared null and void. No individual, contestant or political party will be allowed to stop women from voting while disabled people will be provided with the facility of postal ballot”, Jaffar said.

There was a huge gap between male and female voters specifically in Balochistan. The main reason behind this has been that many eligible women do not have their national identity cards (NICs). Hence, Jaffer said, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has launched a campaign under which Computerised Electoral Rolls (CERS) would be introduced to enable computerised registration of women in 11 districts of Balochistan.

ECP member Justice (retd) Shakeel Ahmed Baloch shed light on the ongoing or likely to be initiated programmes by the ECP. Sharing the programmes he said, “To conduct free and fair elections, it is important to ensure that all the eligible voters are registered in the electoral rolls. For this to happen, the election commission revised the electoral rolls last year and will do the same before the 2018 general elections.”

In this exercise eligible voters are included and ineligible voters are eliminated from the electoral rolls making elections thoroughly transparent.

The reason for celebrating the National Voters’ Day was to impart education among the general public about the sanctity of vote and to register the eligible voters.