- Some employees demand the facility of online voting
ISLAMABAD: While people across the country will participate in the election process today, thousands of the government/private employees in major cities especially in Islamabad may not vote for their political parties in their native areas as they have to join office very next day (Thursday) of the election.
During a survey in various sectors, it was observed that employees of both the government and private sectors, who work in the capital, were not leaving for their native areas to cast the vote as it will be difficult for them to join office very next day. “Few months ago, there was an option to transfer out vote to participate in the election but we have not availed it. Our family also will not be able to cast the vote in this election,” said Mehdi Ali, an employee at the Secretariat.
“There must be the facility of online voting for those working in different cities of the country,” said Muhammad Aslam, a banker at Blue Area. The Election Commission should have scheduled the general election on Monday so the employees, while availing the three-day holiday could visit their hometowns/villages for participating in the election process, said Asad Ali, who belonged to Nawabshah.
“We could not understand the logic of holding election in the mid of week,” he said. Anwar Khan, whose vote was registered in Karachi in NA 242/PS-100, said that he and his family, being in Islamabad, was unable to cast the vote in this election. Interestingly, many government employees, who have not shifted their votes, have also not availed the postal ballots facility.
The Election Commission had fixed July 5 as the last date for receiving of the applications regarding the postal ballots for the general election 2018. As per Section 93 of the Election Act 2017, the out-stationed voters, who cannot reach to the polling station in person, can cast their votes for the national and provincial assemblies through the postal ballots.
According to an ECP official, the facility, as per the law, was been extended to the persons in the government service, members of the armed forces, their spouses and such of their children as are registered voters and ordinarily reside with them provided they are stationed at a place other than the place in which their constituency is situated, persons with any physical disability who are unable to travel and hold a National Identity Card with a logo for the physical disability and the persons who are detained in prison or held in custody are also entitled to vote by postal ballot.
According to ECP official, both teams from ECP and NADRA had visited offices in the Secretariat to guide them for casting vote through postal balloting. Though a large number of the employees had filled the application form and shared information with the team but majority is still believed to have avoided the facility.
On the other hand, employees claimed that they were aware of the procedure of the ballot balloting but complexities in the procedure deterred them from applying for the postal ballot. Not only employees working in the capital but thousands of female health supervisors and visitors who have been assigned duties to conduct the upcoming general elections also cannot cast their personal votes as they have been unable to apply for the facility of the postal ballots.
Along with the polling staff, scores of others government employees including teachers deployed far away from their home constituencies will not be able to cast their votes because they were not aware of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s facility.
