PTI delays polls over voter list glitches
Party’s election commission will meet on November 5 to set a new date.
LAHORE:
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has postponed party elections for Islamabad, scheduled for November 2, till further notice, said a press release of PTI on Thursday.
Party sources said that the polls have been delayed owing to some technical faults in voter lists.
“There were complaints that some members had registered more than one vote in their name, which could have led to unfair results in the elections for the office bearers of the party,” an official of the PTI said.
The chairman of CEC had constituted a committee to look into the complaints regarding faults in the voter lists, he said.
After marathon meeting of CEC with party stakeholders, the commission found that some objections and complaints regarding mistakes in voter lists were factual and needed urgent correction to ensure transparent and fair party elections, he said.
The PTI statement said that the CEC will meet on November 5 to decide the next date for elections in Islamabad and remove all technical faults in the voter lists by then.
PTI would hold party elections at any cost to inculcate democratic values in the political culture, it said.
The election commissioner of PTI, Hamid Khan said the delay would not affect the party elections in other parts of the country.
“We are testing a new electronic voting system to remove all expected faults. The party elections will be held in Islamabad after the successful test run of this system,” he said.
Around 60,000 registered voters of PTI in the capital territory would elect office-bearers for the year 2012-13, Khan said. These voters would elect 13 office-bearers in each of the 36 union councils of Islamabad. These elected people would form the Electoral College to elect the tehsil, district and provincial office-bearers, Khan said. “There is no need to worry about the delay, because intra-party elections will be held in a transparent and fair manner and at any cost,” Khan affirmed.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2012.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has postponed party elections for Islamabad, scheduled for November 2, till further notice, said a press release of PTI on Thursday.
Party sources said that the polls have been delayed owing to some technical faults in voter lists.
“There were complaints that some members had registered more than one vote in their name, which could have led to unfair results in the elections for the office bearers of the party,” an official of the PTI said.
The chairman of CEC had constituted a committee to look into the complaints regarding faults in the voter lists, he said.
After marathon meeting of CEC with party stakeholders, the commission found that some objections and complaints regarding mistakes in voter lists were factual and needed urgent correction to ensure transparent and fair party elections, he said.
The PTI statement said that the CEC will meet on November 5 to decide the next date for elections in Islamabad and remove all technical faults in the voter lists by then.
PTI would hold party elections at any cost to inculcate democratic values in the political culture, it said.
The election commissioner of PTI, Hamid Khan said the delay would not affect the party elections in other parts of the country.
“We are testing a new electronic voting system to remove all expected faults. The party elections will be held in Islamabad after the successful test run of this system,” he said.
Around 60,000 registered voters of PTI in the capital territory would elect office-bearers for the year 2012-13, Khan said. These voters would elect 13 office-bearers in each of the 36 union councils of Islamabad. These elected people would form the Electoral College to elect the tehsil, district and provincial office-bearers, Khan said. “There is no need to worry about the delay, because intra-party elections will be held in a transparent and fair manner and at any cost,” Khan affirmed.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2012.