Voter gender gap down to 8.9pc from 12pc in 2018: Nadra

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Chairman Tariq Malik Tuesday said that the voters gender gap, which stood at 12 percent in general election, 2018, had now been reduced to 8.9 percent, owing to the collective efforts made by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the authority.

He revealed this while speaking here at the National Convention for Inclusive Elections held under the aegis of the Coalition for Inclusive Pakistan (CIP) in collaboration with Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA).

Malik explained that the Nadra and ECP Joint Women NIC/vote registration campaign had been successfully completed in May last year, registering 1.07 million fresh women voters in three phases, whereas another 542,527 women registered in the fourth phase launched in July 2021. Nadra being the identity management organisation, he pointed out, is tasked to maintain and continuously update the citizen database, which essentially remains a centrepiece to good governance and numerous essential reforms direly needed.

The Nadra chairman emphasised that accurate headcount and their enrolment, especially marginalised segments, were pivotal to inclusiveness, transparency and justness of the society, adding the authority was continuously striving to remain in step in registering a population that was increasing annually at the rate of more than 2.0%.

“We are the biggest public dealing entity of the country as we account for more than 110,000 registrations per day. The number of transgender persons enrolled as voters is 2,925 while the number of disabled voters exceed half a million while the authority had waived-off fee for making the first Smart National Identity Cards (NIC) for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and transgender applicants,” he noted. He added that Nadra was in the process of launching a one-window operation to facilitate the registration of PWDs, vowing to pursue zero tolerance policy for service denial to any citizen, particularly women, PWDs and transgender persons.

Responding to the demands by the CIP, he agreed that persons with visibly verifiable disabilities such as amputations should not require a special certificate for acquiring an NIC displaying the disability logo.

ECP’s Additional Director General Ms. Nighat Siddique, Federal Information Commissioner, Zahid Abdullah, Chairperson Free and Fair Election Network, Ms. Mosarrat Qadeem, and Chairperson CIP Syeda Imtiaz Fatima also addressed the convention.

Ms Nighat highlighted the measures taken by the ECP for inclusive elections in the recent past. She explained that the ECP was focusing on increasing the number of women amongst the polling staff, adding the training material for polling and security staff have also been aligned to sensitise the staff on dealing with women, transgenders and voters with disabilities.

The ECP’s campaign for women registration, she pointed out, had led to a decrease in the gender gap on the electoral rolls between male and female voters from 10.3 percent to nine percent. She shared that the commission was reviewing the electoral codes of conduct and political parties’ manifestos with a gender lens to identify areas that require measures to make them inclusive.

Zahid Abdullah regretted that the marginalised groups continued to face discrimination based on their gender and disability till date while laying emphasis on the government’s affirmative actions to protect the rights of marginalised groups.

Ms. Qadeem congratulated the CIP members on behalf of FAFEN for their inspiring efforts and successes and underscored the importance of networking and coalition building to champion the cause of marginalised groups’ political and electoral rights.

Chairperson CIP Syeda Imtiaz Fatima shared a charter of demand comprising the coalition’s recommendations to the Parliament, ECP and Nadra. The charter highlights the legal, policy and administrative reforms, including amendments in the Elections Act, 2017.