Overseas Pakistani Voters Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet Members
opvoters.substack.com
Dear Prime Minister and Federal Cabinet,
On behalf of overseas Pakistanis, I thank you for taking the legislative initiative that allows overseas Pakistanis to vote in upcoming local bodies and general elections.
Subscribe to get updates on this issue in your inbox 👇
However, I am underwhelmed to see the draft Election(Amendment) Bill 2021. The issues we are concerned about are covered well in this short ~3 minutes video
Sadly, the Bill does not attempt to address the issues highlighted by ECP in their report after the Pilot Internet Voting in Oct 2018(link below). The Overseas Pakistani Turn out in that Pilot was less than 1%. In some cases, your government's Bill is worse for Overseas Pakistanis than the current Election Act 2017.
As the Bill does not attempt to fix the issues highlighted in the ECP Report(link below), the turnout in General Election 2023 may be a mere 85 thousand voters (<1%) vs the potential 5 million voters.
Overseas Pakistanis are often left with non-existent or poorly designed services. Services that are not designed with the end-user in mind. The Overseas Pakistani.
For a great Overseas Pakistani turnout in Elections, hurdles have to be removed from each step in the process. Starting from legislation to election rules, technical implementation, raising awareness and ease of use. Any bottlenecks anywhere in the value chain will result in millions of voters being deprived of the opportunity to vote.
This second report “Making it Easy for Overseas Pakistanis to Vote (link below)” thoroughly discusses the challenges and their solutions.
Fixing the turn-out issue is not difficult, it just needs a holistic, concerted end to end approach. A global best practice is to involve the end-user, early and often.
Overseas Pakistanis are keen for their concerns to be heard and provide input in the legislation(link below) and designing of the service, e.g. voter registration module and support mechanisms by NADRA.
I urge you to please urgently take the following actions to ensure that Overseas Pakistanis have a fair voting opportunity in upcoming elections.
📝Appoint a focal person to liaise with overseas Pakistanis. The ideal candidate for a focal person would have:
➡️Availability: Ability to spend at least one hour a week listening to specialist Overseas Pakistanis
➡️Responsibility: Ability to facilitate and coordinate conversations with relevant committees and departments.
➡️Access: Ability to escalate any issues directly to you and the Cabinet
❌ If not done right; past statistics indicate the turnout in General Election 2023 would be a mere 85 thousand votes (<1%)
✔️ If done right, ~5 million Overseas Pakistani voters would register with their email addresses and phone numbers with NADRA and cast their votes.
This can be the start of a new relationship between Overseas Pakistanis and the State of Pakistan like never before. Imagine the possibilities.
Can 1 million of the 5 million registered overseas voters be incentivised to open Roshan Digital Accounts? Easy. That is USD 10 Billion right there.
Overseas Pakistani Voters Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet Members
Overseas Pakistani Voters Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet Members
Overseas Pakistani Voters Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet Members
Dear Prime Minister and Federal Cabinet,
On behalf of overseas Pakistanis, I thank you for taking the legislative initiative that allows overseas Pakistanis to vote in upcoming local bodies and general elections.
Subscribe to get updates on this issue in your inbox 👇
However, I am underwhelmed to see the draft Election(Amendment) Bill 2021. The issues we are concerned about are covered well in this short ~3 minutes video
Sadly, the Bill does not attempt to address the issues highlighted by ECP in their report after the Pilot Internet Voting in Oct 2018(link below). The Overseas Pakistani Turn out in that Pilot was less than 1%. In some cases, your government's Bill is worse for Overseas Pakistanis than the current Election Act 2017.
As the Bill does not attempt to fix the issues highlighted in the ECP Report(link below), the turnout in General Election 2023 may be a mere 85 thousand voters (<1%) vs the potential 5 million voters.
Overseas Pakistanis are often left with non-existent or poorly designed services. Services that are not designed with the end-user in mind. The Overseas Pakistani.
For a great Overseas Pakistani turnout in Elections, hurdles have to be removed from each step in the process. Starting from legislation to election rules, technical implementation, raising awareness and ease of use. Any bottlenecks anywhere in the value chain will result in millions of voters being deprived of the opportunity to vote.
This second report “Making it Easy for Overseas Pakistanis to Vote (link below)” thoroughly discusses the challenges and their solutions.
Fixing the turn-out issue is not difficult, it just needs a holistic, concerted end to end approach. A global best practice is to involve the end-user, early and often.
Overseas Pakistanis are keen for their concerns to be heard and provide input in the legislation(link below) and designing of the service, e.g. voter registration module and support mechanisms by NADRA.
I urge you to please urgently take the following actions to ensure that Overseas Pakistanis have a fair voting opportunity in upcoming elections.
📝Appoint a focal person to liaise with overseas Pakistanis. The ideal candidate for a focal person would have:
➡️Availability: Ability to spend at least one hour a week listening to specialist Overseas Pakistanis
➡️Responsibility: Ability to facilitate and coordinate conversations with relevant committees and departments.
➡️Access: Ability to escalate any issues directly to you and the Cabinet
❌ If not done right; past statistics indicate the turnout in General Election 2023 would be a mere 85 thousand votes (<1%)
✔️ If done right, ~5 million Overseas Pakistani voters would register with their email addresses and phone numbers with NADRA and cast their votes.
This can be the start of a new relationship between Overseas Pakistanis and the State of Pakistan like never before. Imagine the possibilities.
Can 1 million of the 5 million registered overseas voters be incentivised to open Roshan Digital Accounts? Easy. That is USD 10 Billion right there.
Regards,
Copy,
Federal Cabinet Members, Pakistan
Federal Cabinet Secretary, Pakistan
NADRA
Media/Relevant Institutes/departments.
Links:
📗Election Commission Internet Voting Report
📘Making it Easy for Overseas Pakistanis to Vote
📙One Page Legislative Change Summary
🔗 Petition Original Link