LAHORE - This year the election of Lahore High Court Bar Association will be held through biometric system, the LHCBA’s election board announced yesterday.
Lawyers not registered with the biometric system will be unable to cast their votes in the election scheduled for February 27.
Advocate Shahzad Shaukat, LHCBA board chairman, expressed these views while addressing a press conference yesterday. Unlike the previous elections of the bar, no one would be allowed to cast vote manually, he told the media.
Mr Shaukat also requested the bar members to get themselves registered with the new system to exercise their right to vote.
To facilitate the bar members, the LHCBA has formed four mobile teams that will ensure registration of maximum lawyers with the new system.
Out of 21414 member voters, only 11469 lawyers are registered with biometric system. The highest number of unregistered voter is in Lahore which is 4305.
Female LHCBA voters are 1307 in numbers, while new members of the LHCBA who were registered after August 28, 2015, can’t cast their votes as Pakistan Bar Council has put condition for 6-month standing for a voter.
Last date for clearance of dues for the old members was December 31.
Some 58 machines will be installed on the election day at three different places to facilitate the voters. To a question about raising the election fee for the candidates, Shaukat said they did not want to put the burden of election on bar funds. He said these were the candidates who should bear the cost of the election.
Presently a candidate for president will have to submit a fee of Rs300,000, candidates of vice president and secretary will have to submit Rs2,00,000, and the candidates of finance secretary will have to submit Rs1,00,000.