Voters to get separate ballot papers for UC, ward

KARACHI:

Contestants for local bodies' elections face an uphill task of educating voters about casting two votes.

The somewhat complicated process requires that every voter has to cast two votes for which they will get two ballot papers, officials explained.

On one ballot paper voters will have to select the election symbol of chairman/vice chairman (joint) of union committee and on the other ballot paper they have to vote for a ward member, officials said warning that in case of over stamping, the vote will be rejected.

It is quite possible that a candidate might lose the election simply because his supported casted too many rejected votes.

Explaining the local government structure they said Karachi has been divided into 25 towns which have a total of 246 union committees.

Elections are being held for the chairman, vice chairman (joint) and four ward members of each union committee (UC). Each of the 246 UCs will be headed by a chairman/vice chairman, who will be members of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Council.

The KMC Council will consist of chairpersons of 246 UCs who will nominate members for reserved seats, including one per cent transgender persons (two individuals), one per cent special persons (two individuals), 33 per cent females (81 women), five per cent youth (12 men) and five per cent labourers or farmers (12 individuals).

All these members will participate in the election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, the officials elaborated.

In the same way, the vice-chairmen of the UCs will be members of their respective town councils. The number of UCs of each town is different, and the number of members for town councils may also vary, but the ratio of reserved seats remains the same as that for the KMC Council.

The chairman and vice chairman of the town council will be elected by the town council members.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2023.