Local government elections: ECP launches drive to teach voters

PESHAWAR:

A month-long campaign was launched in Peshawar by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday to educate voters about the upcoming local government elections.

Peshawar Press Club was buzzing with activity as the Voters Election Committee was having a meeting. Members of the ECP and government officials were in attendance when Peshawar’s district election officer, Haroon Shinwari, said this was the first event of the campaign to encourage voters to come out, vote and make it count.

He added that they were meeting on Wednesday to get suggestions from the committee’s members for better planning and execution of the drive and reach out to the public.

According to Haroon, the ECP was ready to hold LG polls in the province and all preparations were done. He said they have been concentrating on trying to educate the voters about the importance of their vote. He added they were using the media, banners, posters and pamphlets to reach out to the public and asked the participants to suggest other ways they could do this. The ECP, he said, will pay three rupees per poster and Rs150 per banner for the material to be distributed to the public. One of their aims, said Haroon, was to reach out to women voters.

Khyber Union of Journalist President, Nisar Mehmood, said to reach out to maximum number of people, the ECP should go to schools and colleges and use students.

He added that district chapters of political parties can also play an important role in this regard. “If the ECP takes political parties into confidence on this issue, then they will use their wards and UCs level organisations to reach out to the masses,” said Nisar.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2014.