Overseas Pakistanis’ votes to be included in final by-polls tally, decides ECP

E-Paper | April 24, 2026

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to include the votes cast by overseas Pakistanis in the by-poll results after a meeting with National Database and Registration Authority authorities on Monday.

ECP Spokesman Nadeem Qasim said that the details of all the votes cat through the internet have been sent to the relevant returning officers (ROs).

"The ROs will add these results to their final tallies," Qasim added.

Out of 7,364 registered overseas Pakistanis votes, 6,233 polled their votes through i-voting software in Sunday's by-polls.

The ECP had allowed overseas Pakistanis to vote in the by-polls on an experimental basis on the directives of the Supreme Court.

Though the ECP has not released a statement about the turnout in the by-polls — that were held on 24 provincial assembly seats and 11 National Assembly constituencies — an official said the estimated turnout was between 35 and 40 per cent.

Our readers are at the heart of everything we do.
Do you have a thought to share or a way we can improve? We’d love to hear it. Reach out to us at feedback@dawn.com.

By polls 2018

Pakistan

PTI front runner despite losing seats in by-polls

ECP dismisses concerns over i-voting for overseas Pakistanis, says it is 'not acting in haste'

ECP launches i-voting website for overseas Pakistanis

fida hussain

Oct 15, 2018 12:01pm

Don't know what is problem? as it is very simple regarding casting of vote by the Overseas. A person who want to cast vote he must go in the nearest Pakistan Embassy and after proper identification he may cast their vote. its so simple.

Recommend 0

Iram

Oct 15, 2018 02:54pm

Why election commission did not hold meeting regarding fate of oversees voters before by-election. Election commission role appearing doubtful, in general election due to RTS issue, it made PTI's victory doubtful, and now when every candidate celebrated his victory in by-election, and oversee's vote can impact the result, that would be result in chaos in political scenario. Dear ECP! plz do include in oversees vote in final result on urgent basis.

Recommend 0

Iram

Oct 15, 2018 02:56pm

@fida hussain! it is simple, but ECP always make things doubtful, ECP is the organization of inefficient people.

Recommend 0

Dr Haroon

Oct 15, 2018 06:13pm

Good decision. It will encourage more Pakistanis living overseas to register. I hope this doesn't give rise to more controversies at this stage.

Recommend 0

Sid

Oct 15, 2018 06:20pm

They should have sorted this out BEFORE - what is wrong with these people???? Also please can they sort out the requirements to be an overseas voter - asking for a machine readable passport AND NICOP is completely unfair - should be one or the other.

Recommend 0

excalibur

Oct 15, 2018 07:04pm

the overseas vote were allowed to be cast and included in the final tally So where is the doubt in this ?

Recommend 0

Citizen4

Oct 15, 2018 08:14pm

@Iram The decision of inclusion of votes in the counting couldn't be made before the election due to the fact that in the SC's decision, they decided that if a controversy arrived (such as hacking or malfunction), these votes would be excluded. Once it was verified that all the casted votes are legitimate, only then these were included.

Recommend 0

Disparate

Oct 15, 2018 10:02pm

Also tell us which polling stations you decided to include;)

Recommend 0

SajjadX

Oct 15, 2018 10:27pm

For those candidates who were marginally ahead of pti candidates. If the past elections are any clue, these votes could be used to turn the tables.

Recommend 0

Nadia

Oct 16, 2018 01:08am

Please count overseas vote

Recommend 0

Saqib

Oct 16, 2018 02:30am

@fida hussain It is not that simple dear Fida. I live in San Francisco and there is no consulate nearby. The closest is in Los Angeles which is a 8-9 hour drive or 45 min flight. Mind you San Francisco bay area is a very large area with over 10 million in population. Image for people of Pakistani descent living in smaller town. Please advise how should I take time off to go cast vote? There is no way I can take time off or spend $300-500 for this trip to cast this vote. But I would vote if there was online option.

Recommend 0

A Razzak

Oct 16, 2018 06:22am

Why don’t PTI announce residential scheme for overseas Pk”s name INTERNATIONAL COUNTY for overseas to buy land and apartment on 3 yrs installment- Collect $10 B in 3 years

Recommend 0

Branded Content

Indus Cloud signs strategic partnership agreement with PTCL to deliver cloud excellence

The partnership marks a significant step in Indus Cloud’s and PTCL’s joint efforts to strengthen Pakistan’s cloud and data centre infrastructure and expand access to enterprise-grade digital services in the country.