The Election Commission (EC) has taken the initiative to amend the law to ensure that youths who turn 18 by January 1, 2025, and are registered in the updated voter list, will have the opportunity to vote in the 13th National Parliament elections.
A committee has already finalized the draft of the amendment, alongside proposed changes to the Electoral Rolls Ordinance.
The drafts of these laws and rules will be sent to the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs following approval at the EC meeting.
According to EC officials, under the current law, the Election Commission publishes the draft updated voter list on January 2 each year and the final voter list on March 2.
“Along with the existing provision, a new clause is being introduced,” the officials added. “If approved, the Election Commission will have the authority to update and publish the final voter list at any time of the year. It will allow the EC to release both the draft and final voter lists at any time before the next national election.”
According to the existing law, the draft voter list must be published on January 2, 2025, and finalized by March 2. Although the Election Commission (EC) can add eligible voters to the list before the announcement of the parliamentary election schedule, these additions are incorporated into a combined list rather than through a formal update.
EC officials said that if the law is amended, at least 43 lakh 27 thousand new voters, who have already been added to the Election Commission's records, will be eligible to vote in the upcoming national election.
An EC official noted that in order to allow those turning 18 on January 2 to cast their votes, the schedule for the 13th National Parliament election must be announced after January 2.
In this regard, Election Commission Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, “The work of preparing a proposal for amending the law is underway. Let’s see what happens.”
Meanwhile, the EC is preparing for the elections with the target of holding the elections between December and February.
However, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has announced that the general election will be held between December this year and June next year.
As of April 9, a total of 58,89,866 new voters have been registered in the ongoing voter list update, representing about 5 percent of the existing voters. The majority of these new voters are young. Among them, 43,27,000 are already eligible voters — they were born on or before January 1, 2007, and have reached 18 years of age, but were excluded.
The remainder will turn 18 by January 1 next year. New voters are continuously being added, while the Election Commission (EC) has also collected information on 21,07,000 deceased voters during the update.
According to the current law, a draft list of updated voters must be published by January 2, followed by the final voter list on March 2. Only after the final list is published can the parliamentary election schedule be announced. If elections are scheduled before this timeline, eligible new voters who have turned 18 could be deprived of their right to vote, and the names of deceased voters would remain on the list, potentially creating legal complications.
Although the existing law allows the EC to use the available voter list for elections, the proposed amendment would allow the inclusion of eligible voters at any time, even during an election period.
To ensure that those turning 18 by January 1, 2025, have the chance to vote, the election schedule must be announced after January 2.
Translated by AM
