The section bars transfer of vote from one constituency to another after issuance of election schedule. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has claimed that Section 20 of the Electoral Rolls Act 1974, which bars transfer of vote from one constituency to another after the issuance of election schedule, does not extend to the Senate elections, a claim that many legal experts dispute.
On February 10, 2015, almost three weeks after it officially announced schedule for elections of the upper house of parliament, the ECP wrote a secret letter to its provincial election commissioners – who have been declared returning officers (ROs) to conduct scrutiny of nomination papers – asking them to allow their registration officers transfer votes from one area to another, if needed.
The letter was not made public till The Express Tribune revealed this in a story last week.
The move apparently paved way for many leading candidates, mostly from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), to get clearance from the ROs and qualify for the March 5 Senate elections.
The ROs turned down objections raised by the opponents of these candidates, who were not natives of the areas from where they were contesting. As per rules, a person contesting for a Senate seat must be registered as a voter in the province from where he/she is contesting.
Without mentioning The Express Tribune which raised the issue, the ECP in a statement claimed that section 20 is only limited to national and provincial assemblies’ elections and the said law does not mention about its extension to the Senate polls. The ECP admitted that it had entertained requests of transfer of votes from one province to another during senate elections held in 2009 and 2012 to justify its claims.
The commission did not elaborate why there was a need to attach the extract from the voters list at the time of filing of nomination papers if this clause was not applicable for Senate polls. On the other hand, the experts say the ECP’s stance over the issue is in violation of the spirit of the Constitution, which stipulates that people of every federating unit can have equal representation in the Senate.
They said if the ECP’s stance is admitted then there remains no need to attach the certificate of registration of vote with nomination papers.
Section 20 says: “No revision or correction of any electoral roll for an electoral area shall be made nor shall any order under section 19 be made in respect of any electoral roll at any time after the constituency of which such electoral area forms part has been called upon to elect its representative and before such representative has been elected.”
However, the ECP in its statement said: “Needless to say that a voters’ list cannot be used for aforesaid purposes, if it is continuously being modified and there is no end to it.
“Whereas, no such need arises in case of Senate elections, as the voters in these elections are members of the National and Provincial Assemblies, who form the “Electoral College” for election to fill vacancies in the Senate.
“Thus visualised, a province or the Federal Capital cannot be called a constituency as defined in the Representation of the People Act, 1976 and therefore the provisions of Section 20 ibid, by no stretch of imagination, can be said to be applicable to Senate elections,” the ECP claimed.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2015.
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