Over 12 mln women voters unregistered in country: ECP

ISLAMABAD: Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that over 12 million women voters were not registered in the country, ARY News reported on Friday.

Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad addressing the electoral reforms conference here said that how an election could become free and fair when such a large number of women would be out of the electoral process.

“It is the responsibility of political parties to ensure registration of women as voters,” secretary ECP said. He lamented lack of cooperation from the political parties over the issue and requested the parties to extend cooperation with the election commission.

Around 4.3 million women voters were registered before the general election of 2018, he said.

He expressed apprehension that the number of unregistered women voters in the country could further increase.

The ECP was working in collaboration with the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) for registration of the women voters, he said.

Yaqoob suggested for considering the proposal of representation with the ratio of population.

ECP secretary said that the commission deems the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) as its partner due to its observations and criticism. A working group has also been formed over the recommendations of FAFEN for improvement of the electoral process, he added.