Pak govt mobilises efforts to grant voting rights to overseas citizens

The Pakistan government has mobilized efforts to grant voting rights to overseas citizens and decided to start the registration process soon. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in collaboration with the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) will conduct the registration program, the Express Tribune reported on Monday.

The decision to initiate the registration process was taken at a meeting attended by Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Babar Awan and Minister of State for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari, it said. The meeting was also attended by the NADRA Chairman, the ECP Information and Technology Director-General and the Parliamentary Affairs Secretary.

It was suggested in the meeting that the registration of Pakistanis living abroad could be done through passport or National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP). According to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, the procedure for keeping the voting process secret will also be decided. The meeting also stressed that the participation of all overseas Pakistanis should be ensured.

Efforts have been going on for the last few years to give voting rights to overseas Pakistanis, however, it has not gained any success so far due to various legal and technical issues.