ECP extends deadline till 11th

KARACHI - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has extended till February 11 the deadline to complete the door-to-door verification process of voter lists in Karachi.The door-to-door verification of voters in the City was ordered by the Supreme Court on complaints about irregularities in enrolment of about three million people.Earlier, the voters verification process was started from January 10, but according to Election Commission, the verification of voters has not been completed within stipulated time of 20 days in the City. According to Provincial Election Commissioner of Sindh Mehboob Anwar, the voters verification, which was started on January 10th, supposed to be completed on February 1st.“But the door-to-door verification of voters has not been completed due to various reasons, so the Election Commission has extended the deadline to complete the process by February 10th and ordered to submit the report on February 11th,” he said.Meanwhile, sources told TheNation that so far voters verification process has been completed by 60pc to 65pc in the City. The Election Commission has instructed the District Election Officers to complete the remaining work of verification process within 10 days by February 11.Election Commission staff will continuously work in the City without any gap and ensure that all voters are verified in the campaign. It may be mentioned that on the instructions of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission sought the help of Pak Army to remain with the staff of Election Commission for its security during the voters’ verification process in the City. But the Opposition political parties have been alleging that the situation was different as Army is rarely visible in the process.The Opposition political parties had staged protest sit-in outside the office of Election Commission in Karachi for three days to ensure the Army’s visibility in the voter verification process, so it could be made transparent. However, Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, PML-N and other political parties have questioned the voters verification process and raised the authenticity and transparency in the voters lists, which was verified without Army’s help in Karachi.

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