Postal Ballot System Creates Barriers for Disabled Voters

Fazal Rahman

Bajaur:

Despite the Election Commission’s claims of promoting active participation from all sectors of society, Bajaur’s postal ballot process presents significant hurdles for people with disabilities, government employees, and prisoners.

Anjuman Bahal-e-Mazoran Bajaur Chairman Hazarat Wali Shah said the process of postal ballot is as difficult as getting a visa to another country. This is why many people with disabilities, government employees, or prisoners choose not to vote.

Wali Shah added that the current postal ballot system in Bajaur not only disenfranchises these groups, but it undermines their fundamental right to vote.

Explaining the process of the postal ballot, a senior official of the Election Commission of Pakistan, Muhammad Yar Shah, said that government employees must submit an application to the Election Commission before the elections. After that, a postal ballot is issued, and then the vote is to be submitted through the post office.

It is to be mentioned that the post office is located in only one tehsil headquarters, Khar, in the eight tehsils of Bajaur. It is not easy for people, particularly persons with disabilities, from remote areas to travel to Khar.

Bajaur has approximately 2,700 police officers, while the Education Department reports that the district has 2,267 male and 703 female staff.

According to the ECP, a total of 495 postal votes were cast in the 2013 general elections, 1,101 in the 2018 general elections, and 673 in the 2019 provincial assembly elections.

The low number of postal votes received by the Election Commission’s office in Bajaur indicates that people from remote areas do not receive their postal ballots due to the distance from the Khar tehsil headquarters.Hazrat Wali Shah said that there are about 13,000 disabled people in Bajaur, of which about 6,000 are registered with the Social Welfare Department. However, most of these men and women are unable to walk.

Talking about the problems faced by people with disabilities on polling day, Wali Shah said that people are not cooperative due to lack of awareness. On the day of the election, most of the time people do not allow disabled people to go ahead in the queue. He also said that there are no ramps for wheelchairs at polling booths, which makes it difficult for disabled people to cast their votes.

A government school teacher, who did not want to be named, said that the postal ballot system is wrong. He also said that there is no guarantee that the postal ballot will reach the Election Commission, as it is often lost in transit. He suggested that the Election Commission should hold a separate poll for government employees a day or two before the general election.

According to a police officer stationed in Bajaur, Habibullah, he voted via postal ballot in the 2018 general elections but did not vote in the 2019 provincial elections. He stated that he did not vote in the 2019 provincial elections because he was serving as a focal person.

Habibullah also said that police officers are deployed on election duty in the district, and most of them do not vote due to the distance from their polling station and tehsil headquarters.

When asked about the complex process and regulations of postal ballots, the provincial spokesperson of the Election Commission, Sahil Khan, said that the postal ballot voting process is for government employees who are outside their constituency or province. He said that according to the Election Commission regulations, the postal ballot process is the same throughout Pakistan.

He said that the postal ballot form can be downloaded from the internet, or government employees can obtain it from any office of the Election Commission of Pakistan. The form is then verified by the employee’s department and sent to the concerned provincial and national constituency returning officers after confirmation by the head of the institution.

Sahil Khan further said that the name of the candidate to whom the vote is to be given is to be written on the postal ballot. When the postal ballot is issued, the names of all the candidates are also attached to the ballot.

Speaking about people with disabilities, Sahil Khan said that disabled people who cannot go to the polling station due to physical disability can also take advantage of this facility. Prisoners in jail can also apply for a postal ballot.

However, he said that it is necessary for the jail superintendent to send the names of all prisoners to the Election Commission, which includes the details of the constituency of each prisoner. In response to a question, he said that the Election Commission is considering introducing an awareness program to encourage more and more people with disabilities to vote.

A senior journalist in Bajaur, Anwarullah Khan, said that there are many sectors in Pakistan whose nature of work deprives employees of voting rights. He said that how many police personnel in Bajaur will have the opportunity to go to Khar?

Fazal Rahman is a journalist based in Bajaur, and the information provided in this feature story is the sole responsibility of the contributor.

Translated and edited by Shazia Mehboob.

Photo Credit: Fazal Rahman

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