Next general elections: ECP calls for more women and ‘transgender’ voters

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared on Friday that it is time to stop the excuses and get more women and “transgender” voters to the ballot box ahead of the next elections.

At a media workshop, senior ECP official Duriya Aamir threw down the gauntlet, stressing the media and civil society must join the fight to clean up Pakistan’s democracy and boost voter turnout.

Meanwhile, Nazar Abbas, the ECP’s top media honcho, boasted about slashing voter registration gaps – especially for women – and boosting public trust with tech upgrades and transparency overhauls.

His office claims it tackled over 21,000 complaints last year alone and helped nearly 30 million voters verify their status via SMS.

Abbas also bragged about the mobile registration vans that rolled out from 2018 to 2024, snagging 14 million new women voters and closing the gender registration gap from nearly 12% to just 7.4%.

But the crackdown doesn’t stop there — the ECP has axed 15 political parties for flouting the rules and is digging deep into party finances with audits. Abbas warned all political groups: Get ready to hold your internal elections every five years, or else.

On the grassroots front, Chaudhry Nadeem Qasim, ECP’s local elections guru, said they’re blasting voter awareness campaigns from city streets to rural backwaters – including social media blitzes and college outreach – all aimed at pulling women and trans voters into the democratic fold.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025