‘Over 80m voters registered in new electoral lists’

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakharuddin G Ebrahim on Tuesday announced that a total of 80.436 million voters had been registered in the new electoral list with the help of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday‚ the CEC said that the voters could correct any mistakes in the electoral lists before the announcement of the general elections. He said that any person could verify his information by sending an SMS to 8300. The CEC said that with the issuance of the voters’ list‚ the first phase of electioneering had started in the country. He said that an effort had been made to make the rolls transparent. He said that people over the age of eighteen were eligible to cast vote. To a question, he said that changes could still be made in the electoral lists. He said that only the voters with computerised National Identity Cards would be allowed to cast vote. The CEC said that uncontroversial elections were the only way out of the present crisis. He claimed that nobody would be able to object to the final electoral lists. “We want to hold such an election which nobody could dispute. The Election Commission has competent workers. We have papered the electoral lists without any fear,” he said, adding that the CEC staff had made house-to-house visits to verify voters. The ECP secretary, while answering reporters’ questions, said the electoral lists included the names of four million Pakistanis living abroad. He said that the computerised ID card issued by NADRA was mandatory to participate in the election process.