The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) on Saturday allowed people to renew their Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) without the submission of the old one.
A notification issued by the authority said this move will give “fair chance to all citizens to exercise their right to vote”.
It said, “Under this clause, all Data Entry Acquisition Units (DAUs) shall not demand applicants to surrender their old CNIC and shall be allowed to vote on it too. The old CNIC shall only be surrendered once the new CNIC has been delivered.
NADRA Spokesperson Faik Ali Chachar said that the notification shall remain in effect till the day of the election.
On whether or not applicants shall be allowed to vote on an expired document, the NADRA official confirmed that “applicants shall have the right to cast vote on an expired CNIC too”.
The spokesperson added that ahead of polls, NADRA wants to facilitate all citizens to vote.
In January, the interior ministry informed the Senate that NADRA had detected more than 58,000 fake or suspicious national identity cards, which have now been “temporarily digitally impounded in NADRA’s database”.