LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has been asked to strike down the method of secret balloting for the election of the Senate to discourage floor-crossing and vote buying.

Munir Ahmad, a lawyer by profession, in a writ petition filed through Advocate Azhar Siddique also assails the vires of section 122 (6) of the Election Act 2017 for being in violation of articles 222 and 226 of the Constitution.

The petitioner submits that the article 226 restricts secret balloting only for those elections that are held under the Constitution, which include elections for the office of president, speakers and deputy speakers of national and provincial assemblies, and election of chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate.

He states that the election for the members of the Senate does not fall within the definition of the elections as envisaged in article 226. Therefore, he argues, the voting can be held through an open ballot.

The petitioner contends that the framer of the Constitution, unfortunately, left a number of things open to be settled by parliament through statutory legislation and parliament has to confine itself to making the things transparent, merit based and to develop a system free of rigging and manipulation.

He pleads that by incorporating the words “secret balloting” in section 122 of the Election Act, prima facie, a door has been opened for corruption and corrupt practices and taking undue advantages to the members, therefore, this provision is null and void in the eye of law and has at the same time violated constitutional provisions.

The petitioner asks the court to allow the petition and strike down the method of the secret balloting in order to discourage the floor-crossing, use of looted and laundered money for vote-buying in Senate elections.

The lawyer also urges the court to set aside section 122 (6) of the Elections Act 2017 for being ultra vires to articles 222 & 226 of the Constitution in the interest of public, justice, equity and fair play.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2021