Islamabad: At least four million of the 81 million votes to be cast in the February 18 poll are bogus and about five million might not be able to vote, an Election Commission (EC) official told Daily Times on Saturday.
He said the voters were registered in two phases – 52 million in the first and 29 million in the second. The bogus entries were made in the second phase, he said, because the requirement of computerised national identity cards (CNICs) had been withdrawn.
A number of voters who were registered for the 2002 elections had died, he said, but were re-listed in the 2008 elections. Others were registered twice showing different identity documents (such as old ID cards and educational degrees).
"The EC shifted the left over voters to new electoral rolls without verification," said the official, asking not to be named.
He said the EC estimated that only nine million of the 29 million voters registered in the second phase were authentic.
The EC has made identity cards (old or new) compulsory for voting, in line with Section 33 of the Representation of the People Act of 1973.
Election Commission Secretary Kanwar Dilshad told Daily Times that the EC could not change the law and voters were required to show an identity card before voting unless the Constitution was amended. He said political parties had helped voters get identity cards made before the elections.
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