Panel prepares draft bill on polls reforms

A parliamentary committee has prepared a draft bill seeking amendments to the Election Act, 2017.

The bill, chalked out by the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms, will soon be presented in both the houses of parliament to bring about some major changes in the polls law.

Sources privy to the draft bill said one of the amendments read that a National Assembly or Senate seat would be deemed vacant if a returning candidate was not sworn in within 60 days of their election.

The bill also proposed that all constituencies would comprise an equal number of voters.

It further suggested that the process for demarking constituencies must be completed four months before the announcement of the election schedule.

A complaint against the demarcation of a constituency will be filed within 30 days of its delimitation.
The bill proposed making it binding on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to publish details about the polling staff on its website.

The polling staff will not be allowed to perform duties in their native districts.

The newly-proposed Section 59A (installation of surveillance cameras) stated that the ECP would arrange the installation of a surveillance camera at every polling booth of all polling stations to record election proceedings, counting of ballot papers and preparation of results by the presiding officer.

The proposed 59A (2) added that the surveillance camera should not compromise the secrecy of the ballot by violating the privacy of a voter who was marking a paper.

It continued that the fee for processing nomination papers would be returned to a candidate in case they decided to withdraw them or the ECP rejected them.

The candidates will be permitted to raise objections to the venue of a particular polling station provided that they have a solid reasoning.

The parliamentary committee has decided to empower the ECP to give the overseas Pakistanis the facility to cast their votes in the elections.

A new sub-clause under Section 77(3) proposed that a polling agent would be allowed to carry with them inside the polling station a mobile phone with a camera to record the polling or counting proceedings if they desired so “for the effective performance of [their] functions and to ensure transparency”.

It has been proposed that the maximum limit on election expenses for an NA seat should be increased from Rs4 million to Rs10 million.

For a provincial assembly seat, the maximum limit for election expenses should be from Rs2 million to Rs4 million.