In anticipation of the upcoming elections for the national and provincial assemblies, the preparations for fresh digital delimitations have been initiated in the Rawalpindi division like other parts of the country.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked deputy commissioners and additional deputy commissioners to furnish digital maps of districts, to begin with.
Moreover, the ECP has received digitised data related to the recent digital census from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Officials from the Rawalpindi Division's four districts—Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jhelum, and Attock—have responded by submitting maps outlining the district areas and their boundaries. In response, the election commission has issued instructions to these officials to rectify any inaccuracies present in the maps.
A deadline of one week has been set for the deputy commissioners to provide comprehensive data, following which Constituency Committees will be established.
These committees will then be assigned a timeframe within which they are to complete the constituency delimitation process.
The recent digital population and household census, overseen by the statistics bureau, has revealed a substantial increase in the number of houses and votes in Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Attock, and Chakwal districts.
This census, the country's seventh and first-ever digital census, will play a pivotal role in determining the population-to-vote ratio for each constituency in the upcoming elections.
A National Assembly constituency is projected to be formed based on either a population of 0.5 million or approximately 0.3 million votes.
According to the latest census data, Rawalpindi district's total population has surged to 5.5 million, with an associated rise in the number of voters across all four districts.
The district of Rawalpindi witnessed a total of over three million votes cast for its 7 National Assembly seats in the last elections. This tally comprised 1.7m votes from male voters and 1.6 votes from female voters.
Additionally, the district registered 3,350 Qadiani votes and 1,201 votes from the transgender community.
Data indicates that the 2018 national elections in Islamabad district saw a total of over 0.7m votes cast, with 0.4m coming from male voters and 0.3m from female voters—an aggregate that has since risen.
In District Attock, a cumulative 1.2m votes were cast for the two national assembly seats, with 0.6m coming from male voters and 0.6m from female voters. The recently compiled total votes for the two seats in the Jhelum district crossed the one million mark, with over 0.5 million coming from male voters and 0.4 million from female voters.
Similarly, Chakwal witnessed 0.5 million male and 0.5 million female voters participating in the elections.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2023.
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