ISLAMABAD, Aug 29: A voter will participate in the general elections if he is sure that his preference will be considered exactly the way he has expressed it.

This was said by Senior Advisor at the International Federation for Election Systems Hank Valentino in an exclusive interview with Dawn.

Mr Valentino arrived in the federal capital last Saturday in connection with the preparation of a voters’ education project in Pakistan. He said the American government was financing the project.

Asked if low literacy rate could restrict voters’ turnout, he said educated people would be more participatory, but this could not be generalized. He said from his experience in some 22 countries where he had been associated with electoral education, the reverse could also be true as there were variations from country to country.

He said it had been seen that after every election there was a sharp drop in the voters’ turnout. He said in the view of the federation, education of voters about election process had become necessary in case of Pakistan.

For this purpose he would devise a media programme to educate people about ballots, party symbols and the manner of casting votes. If the voter knows all these things well in advance a large number of people will come out to vote, he said.

Mr Valentino said a number of NGOs were working with women at grassroot level. He said he intended to benefit from the experience of the NGOs. Therefore, the voters’ education programme which he had in mind would concentrate on women, encouraging them to participate and vote in large numbers. He also said he would seek the assistance of advertising agencies.

Mr Valentino on Thursday visited the office of Pakistan Health and Education Foundation (PHEF), where he was briefed about a cadre of prominent intellectuals and citizens.

A former joint secretary of Election Commission Rahmat Mujahid organized the discussion, but the proceedings were not made public on the guest’s request.

According to PHEF President Yar Mohammad Khan, the foundation was working to educate people about election process. He said many people spent their money on contesting elections, however he felt that the public needed comprehensive information about election campaigns, an area on which a few political parties or their leaders paid attention to.—Jonaid Iqbal