ISLAMABAD:
A new facility introduced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) enables eligible voter check the status of registration and other particulars through SMS facilities at Rs2 per SMS.
Upon sending a CNIC number to a prescribed short code, the sender will receive a message in Urdu confirming the registration, the location (electoral area) where the voter is registered and a serial number.
Details of the procedure and codes for the service will be announced as soon as the Preliminary Electoral Rolls-2011 (PER) are ready to be displayed for 21 days at 55,000 display centres across the country.
According to sources, the service will commence in February, immediately after the completion of PER.
Those who choose to register through NADRA will have to pay Rs10 plus tax for each SMS.
ECP Secretary Ishtiak Ahmed Khan has termed the new system a major milestone in the electoral history of Pakistan as it engages over 85 million voters directly and to a great convenience.
A signing ceremony, in this regard, of a MoU between the ECP-NADRA and telecom companies had already been held on December 27, 2011,
The ECP had decided to introduce the system in November 2011. According to ECP officials, the intention for initiating this facility was to ensure the security and privacy of all citizens.
Officials further said that it is now the responsibility of every eligible voter to make sure that his/her vote has been registered and furthermore to report any discrepancy to the ECP.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2012.
COMMENTS (21)
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i like this. it is the easiest way to know about vote registration.thanks ECP.
can anybody tell me whats the damn code i.e where to send the sms to get the confirmation....
well done ECP!
i think its a milestone in empowering people to get their people elected by fair and easy means...
10852(n) >= Rs1700million/- where n is the average number of times people send the sms and it may vary from 1 to any number.
No wonder ECP-NADRA and telecom companies are happy! Apparently this sum equals approx 17million USD. Now it is the responsibility of every citizen to make sure this amount is invested back into the country insted of it being used for running the election campaigns of selected people. Nowhere in the world the elections could have been this much profitable thanks to a wonderful buisness strategy by ECP-NADRA. Dear fellow citizens bid farewell to the freedom to knowledge, access to public information and bla bla.
nice work by ecp ,really fantastic,this system will help for preventing fake polling
But Why the Rs. 10 charge for that...why not Govt should fund it. or just ask for the minimum cost to voters or subsidize this service this time.As this is all ECP fault of registering the bogus votes and keeping them in their list for too long.there are many poor people who would not be able to afford Rs. 10 for that and many are even without mobile..Do the POOR people form the part of DEMOCRACY or not?
Govt wants its Taxes on the top of Rs. 10...Have they not super-charged the electricity bills with fuel adjustments already illegally, even when it was a fault on the part of poor planners?every person should be registered FREE on NADRA and ECP database for the first time.
A govt should exits to help every weak and poor otherwise their very basic reason for existence is breached. Until you are given your rights, and saved from those who are strong enough to play the system your are POOR & WEAK (regardless of whether you sleep on the bare floor or you own your private jet)
Should be free, who is making money ?
@usman: It will be launched in Feb and then you can get the no on which u can send the SMS.
very good step!!!!
Can we also get registered or is it jst for verification?
This will be a silent revolution in Pakistan. The implementation of this system will have will have deep rooted effects and it will only strengthen democratic institutions of this country.
step in a right direction :)
What is the code. On witch number i send my i.d card number for verification
this is very good effort i am very impressed. thanx
This is a Very nice Step By ECP.
Now thats convenient :)
Thats greattt