MANSEHRA, June 15: The number of people in the newly compiled voters’ list of district Mansehra has reduced considerably, Dawn has learnt.

The voters’ lists of three tehsils of Mansehra, including Mansehra, Oghi, and Balakot, and the tribal belt of Kala Dhaka were displayed at 436 places throughout the district on Friday.The Election Commission will look into complaints regarding missing names and other discrepancies in the list after July 3, which is the last day for display of the voters’ lists. As many as 643,043 male and female persons from Mansehra and Kala Dhaka were registered with the Election Commission in 2002. The current voters’ list showed that this number had come down to 572,941, a difference of about 70,000 voters compared to the 2002 list, sources said.

Sources said the difference between the two lists was due to the loss of about 25,000 lives in the area in the aftermath of the October 8 earthquake and the non-availability of National Identity Card (NIC) holders.

There had been no bar on the registration of voters without NICs in 2002, but now according to new rules of the election commission, only NIC holders could register their votes.

Assistant Election Commissioner Mansehra Mohammad Naeem did not give the exact reason for the decrease in the numbers of voters, but said: “The number of voters registered in the recently held registration process is less but the complete data will be made public only after complaints and other discrepancies are removed”.