Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) in its verdict has upheld secret balloting under Article 226 of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan for the upcoming Senate elections on March 3rd.
SC on Monday (today), announced its verdict on Presidential Reference pertaining to open balloting in Senate elections and directed that the voting for the upper house to be held secretly as prescribed by Article 226 of the constitution.
The top court’s five-member bench comprising of Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi announced its verdict (4-1) preserving the secret balloting for Senate elections.
Ballots’ Secrecy ‘Not Absolute’
However, the apex court’s verdict nullifies absolute secrecy of ballots in Senate elections.
Ballots’ secrecy is not implemented in absolute sense and is subjected to practical considerations among prevailing circumstances in light of key necessities, said the Supreme Court.
ECP And Parliament’s Role
Furthermore, SC has directed Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take all essential measures in accordance to Article 218 (3) of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan in order to ensure transparency in Senate elections.
ECP is to carry out its activities under the Elections Act 2017 in pursuance of Article 222 of the constitution, said the top court.
Federal and provincial executive authorities have been directed to assist ECP in carrying out the election process for Senate elections.
In addition to it, SC verdict accentuates that it is Parliament’s prerogative to formulate laws pertaining to the voting and electoral process.
It is to be noted that Senate elections are scheduled to be held on March 3rd for the election of 48 new senators from across the country with the following distribution of seats;
- Islamabad – 2 seats
- Punjab – 11 seats
- Sindh – 11 seats
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – 12 seats
- Balochistan – 12 seats
