DERA ISMAIL KHAN: District Election Commissioner (DEC) Abdul Rauf Khan has urged women to actively participate in the electoral process to reduce the gender gap among voters and achieve higher turnout in the next elections.
He expressed these views during a mock polling exercise and awareness session held here at Government Girls Higher Secondary School Bahari Colony, which was attended by a large number of students besides senior officials of the education department.
The DEC enlightened the participants about various stages of the election process and highlighted the importance of women’s inclusion and role in making elections credible.
He said that efforts should be made for the registration of maximum female voters to reduce the gender-based difference in the number of male and female voters and added that there was still a significant difference of over 68,000 between the registration of men and women.
He said it had been decided to unfreeze the electoral rolls for the convenience of the general public till October 25 to enable all eligible persons to ensure the accuracy of the data by rectifying or updating their details including registration of vote according to their national identity card.
District Education Officer (DEO) DI Khan Shahida Parveen, Deputy District Education Officer Farhat Yasmeen, and Principal Qaisar Shaheen also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the importance of vote casting for strengthening democracy in the country.