Electoral reforms committee finalises Election Act amendments

ISLAMABAD: The electoral reforms committee has finalised the draft amendments to the Election Act 2017 which will be presented in the National Assembly (NA) and the Senate, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The electoral reforms committee has given the final shape to the draft amendments to the Election Act 2017 ahead of the general elections.

After several sessions, the electoral reforms committee finalised many amendments to the Election Act. The committee members recommended completing delimitations on the basis of the equivalent ratio of registered voters in all constituencies.

It has also been recommended to complete the delimitation process before the announcement of the election schedule. It was also recommended to not keep more than 5% of voters in each constituency.

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After the reforms, the complaints against the delimitations could be registered in 30 days.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will be bound to upload details of the polling staff on its website. During the elections, the polling staffers will be banned to perform duties in their own tehsils.

The election authorities will ensure the secrecy of votes during the installation of security cameras in the polling stations. Election fees of the candidates will be returned in case of rejection or withdrawal of their nomination papers.

The candidates will be allowed to raise objections on the establishment of specific polling stations on the basis of concrete evidence.

The reforms committee suggested tasking the ECP for providing voting facilities to overseas Pakistanis.

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Under the amendments, the political parties will be bound to provide top priority lists within three days of final results. The committee will seek the final approval of the amendments from the National Assembly (NA) and Senate.

Yesterday, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar said that consensus was reached on the Election Act 2017 amendments in the electoral reforms committee and the final draft will be forwarded to the members on Thursday.

The electoral reforms committee held another session regarding the amendments to the Election Act 2017 ahead of the general polls. The committee reached a consensus on the Election Act amendments and the final draft will be forwarded to the members on Thursday.

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The committee members will formally apprise their stances after holding consultations with the party leadership.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the media that a consensus was reached on all amendments and some changes were made in the draft documents.

He detailed that some written recommendations will be forwarded by Fehmida Mirza and the final draft will be sent to the members by Thursday.

Tarar confirmed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was on board regarding the amendments. He claimed that the committee approved the amendments regardless of their party associations.

He also confirmed that the i-voting facility will not be given to overseas Pakistanis in the general elections. To a question, he replied that the president would not create any hurdle to the bill seeking the Election Act 2017 amendments.