THIS is with reference to the article ‘Census and election’ (Oct 22). To take the debate further, there are a few points that need consideration. While it is common to talk about under-registration (UR) of voters, the element of over-registration (OR) remains largely untouched. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, many powerful politicians had arranged the registration of thousands of voters at multiple polling stations in their constituencies. They still exist on the current electoral rolls.

Besides, there are 13 million ‘missing’ voters, and, contrary to the assertion in the said article, the number is not based on fudged data. It is worth stating here that unlike the United Kingdom and many other countries, population is the foundation of delimitation of constituencies in Pakistan. And delimitation becomes mandatory after every approved census.

Also, section 20(3) of the Elections Act, 2017, restricts the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from crossing the limit of +/-10 per cent adjustment in the population of a constituency. Thus, census results provide the only legal basis to calculate the 10pc variation in population. Put simply, voter registration cannot be separated from census results.

Furthermore, the article in question apparently stumbled while dealing with the proportion of adult population. Also, it has claimed that there are 2.9 million disenfranchised voters “as opposed to 13 million”.

First, even 2.9 million is not a number that can be dismissed easily. But, interestingly, data on the ECP website shows female-to-male ratio of 46:54, while Census 2023 reported 49:51. Juxtaposition of the two pieces of data indicates there are about 10 million fewer registered female voters than their male counterparts. And then adding this 10 million to the 2.9 million mentioned in the said article makes the total just about 13 million.

The ECP datasets clearly indicate the need to have a few things sorted out. And this needs to be done quickly. There is no point sweeping things under the rug.

Sarwar Bari
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2023