Overseas Pakistanis to cast vote through passports: ECP

Election Commission of Pakistan Spokesman Nadeem Qasim said on Friday that the overseas Pakistanis will be able to cast their votes through passports in the bypolls to be held on October 14.

The ECP issued a schedule for overseas Pakistani voters after the Supreme Court in its verdict allowed Pakistanis living abroad to vote in by-elections.

Speaking to media, ECP Spokesman Qasim said that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA)will facilitate voters through its online system.

Qasim said that the NADRA has also issued a video for guiding overseas voters and the registration process will begin from September 1 and end until September 15.

He said that after the registration process, the polling lists will be given to the Returning Officers.

Qasim added that the impression that illiterate people cannot cast vote is wrong.

The report of the overseas voting will be presented before the parliament, said the ECP spokesman.

According to the rules, it is mandatory that the ECP is satisfied over the pilot project, he said.

In the verdict, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar had remarked that overseas Pakistanis would be participating in the by-election through i-voting, a system that allows voters to cast ballots from any computer connected to the internet anywhere in the world.