Deadline
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has extended the deadline for eligible citizens to register, transfer, or correct their voting information by 25th of this month.
An ECP official stated that individuals wishing to confirm their voter registration status can do so by sending their Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) number to 8300 via SMS. Upon sending the SMS to 8300, an automated response will provide information about the electoral area name, block code, and serial number.
Registered voters also have the option to verify their details by visiting the District Election Commissioner’s office in their respective area.
Recently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) released a preliminary list of new delimitations in preparation for the upcoming general elections.
The preliminary list of delimitations was approved by the chief election commissioner (CEC) and ECP members, based on 2023 digital census data. Following the CEC’s approval, the commission published the initial delimitation list on its website.
For the National Assembly (NA), the voter quota was allocated as follows: 905,595 for Punjab province, 913,000 for Sindh, 907,913 for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 930,900 for Balochistan, and 787,954 for Islamabad.
In the case of the Punjab Assembly, the voter quota is set at 429,929, 428,431 for the Sindh Assembly, 355,270 for the KP Assembly, and 292,047 for the Balochistan Assembly.
The election commission will address objections to these delimitations from October 28 to November 26, with objections being accepted between September 27 and October 26.
Hearings regarding objections to the delimitations will be conducted until November 25. The ECP is scheduled to release the final delimitations on November 30.
ECP address concerns of FAFEN
Meanwhile, the ECP has addressed the concerns of the FAFEN about the delimitation of constituencies in the country.
The FAFEN, Free and Fair Election Network, revealed that over one-fifth of the constituencies surpassed the 10% population variation, as suggested by the ECP in its draft delimitation. This undermines the principle of equal suffrage, as endorsed by Parliament through recent amendments to the Elections Act, of 2017.
According to FAFEN, the proposed 180 constituencies for national and provincial assemblies do not meet the legally desirable 10% population variation. These amendments, enacted in August 2023, expected the Election Commission to disregard district boundaries to ensure population variation within constituencies does not exceed 10%. The Fafen determines this variation by comparing the constituency population to the average population per assembly seat, also known as the quota per seat.
