Daily Times

As Pakistan went through historic polls on Wednesday, some of the highlights included a large number of female voters thronging to the polling stations to cast their votes while physically disabled persons also came out in droves just to elect the new leadership of the country.

Some women cast their votes for the very first time in Dir, Kohistan, North Waziristan and South Waziristan and long queues of female voters were also seen in different polling stations of Lahore despite the fact that the weather remained extremely hot and humid until afternoon. Female voters were coming to the polling stations with their children, some even accompanied by toddlers, but nobody refrained from coming out despite hot weather.

Furthermore, physically disabled persons were also seen at most of the polling stations in the city using their wheelchairs and crutches and they were also given priority by the polling staff and security officials to cast their votes. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had already issued special directives to give priority to disabled, elderly persons, pregnant woman and woman accompanied by toddlers.

“I came here from Bhai Pheru, which is some 50 kilometres away from Lahore, just to cast my vote today in this humidity,” said Hanifa Begum, 70, while sitting at a polling booth in Government Ayesha Siddiqa Model Degree College at Nikalson Road that falls in NA-124.

“I spent most part of my life in the Walled City and then we moved to Bhai Pheru, a small city of Kasur just few years ago and our votes are still registered in Lahore’s constituency,” she said, while talking exclusively to Daily Times.

Hanifa Begum said she was voting for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, as she considered former prime minister Nawaz Sharif a “noble person”.

Usman Ali, a physically paralysed person, who was coming back from polling both setup in Government High School Shahdara with the help of his crutches, said that the polling staff gave him preference over other voters owing to his disability and he didn’t face any hurdle during the whole process. Usman Ali, also while talking exclusively to Daily Times, said that he only voted for Pakistan today.

Mirza Muhammad Khalil, an assistant presiding officer in the same polling station said that the polling staff itself approached the disabled persons for the polling process just to acknowledge their passion to cast the vote. According to the data issued by the ECP, there are 215,527 registered voters in Pakistan and they had an option to use postal balloting as well but if someone comes to the polling station then he would be given priority and no disabled person would stand in the queues as announced by the ECP.

Arooj Khan, who cast her vote in NA-126 said that the participation of women in the voting process would definitely bring a positive change in the country as 46,730,569 female voters are registered in Pakistan.

“The female voters of Pakistan have proved today that they want to play an equal part in the betterment of the country along with our male population as they came from their houses in droves in order to use their right to ballot,” she said.

Another female voter, Iram, who cast her vote at Government Central Model School falling in NA-125, told Daily Times that the motivation behind her casting the vote was Yasmin Rashid who was the candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from the same constituency.

“She ran a rigorous campaign in her constituency and gave courage to all the women of Pakistan to come ahead just for the sake of this country,” she said.

Muhammad Ahmad, a visually impaired who cast his vote in NA-130 also narrated the same story that he also got the treatment on priority basis by the polling staff and it literally took just few minutes to cast his vote.

Published in Daily Times, July 26^th 2018.