National Voters’ Day: ECP facilitates voters to register respective constituencies

ISLAMABAD: The Chief Election Commissioner, Sikandar Sultan Raja, on Monday said the registration of all eligible voters in their constituencies should be ensured as per the law and all eligible voters who are not registered, should also be registered soon.

“These steps of the Election Commission have significantly increased the number of voters from 112 million before to 115 million now,” he added at the main function of the National Voters’ Day held at the Election Commission Secretariat. The function was attended by the Election Commission officials, UNDP and representatives of International Foundation for Electoral System. He pointed out the prime objective of the NVD was to raise awareness about the democratic rights and responsibilities, so the people could be part of the process and to ensure transparent and peaceful elections. He said the Election Commission of Pakistan is an independent constitutional body, whose duties include ensuring fair and impartial conduct of the elections.

The Chief Election Commissioner said one of the important responsibilities of the Election Commission was to hold local bodies’ elections timely under the Articles 219, 140 (A) of the Constitution of Pakistan and Section 219 of the Election Act 2017. In the context of the Covid-19, the Election Commission is in full touch with the NCOC regarding the conduct of elections. In the light of NCOC, the holding of elections till January 31, 2021, has been stopped due to the Covid-19.

He contended that under the Strategic Plan 2019-2023 of the Election Commission, the election process was being improved, as the all eligible voters should be registered, and steps were being taken regarding public and voters awareness for the election process. New technology was being used.

The Chief Election Commissioner said in July 2020 “we launched a pilot project in 21 tehsils of 21 districts and 229 statistical block codes to find out the reasons for the significant discrepancy in the voter lists. The pilot project is in the process of completion.” The CEC said the Election Commission has introduced a website (cms.ecp.gov.pk) for complaint management. And under this system, it is being ensured that the people are given immediate relief in case of any difficulty. He said a citizen of Pakistan can get the full details of his vote by sending an SMS to his ID card number 8300.

Later, the Chief Election Commissioner inaugurated telephone number 051-8848888 for the convenience of the people. Necessary information and assistance regarding the Election Commission can be obtained through this system.

The NVD was marked in the federal capital. For the purpose, a program was arranged in the office of District Election Commissioner. The members of District Voter Education Committee (DVEC), members of local governments, media persons and members of the different NGOs attended the event.