The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the body that runs elections, has launched a women's voter registration pilot in Qambar Shahdadkot, Sindh, to shrink the gap between men and women on the electoral rolls.
Director General Gender and Training Nighat Siddique inaugurated the project at the Darbar Hall of the Deputy Commissioner's Office in Kamber, with Deputy Commissioner Kamran Hussain Mushtaq and election and district officials present. She said the district still has a gender gap of about 49,000 voters and that the campaign aims to close it.
What the pilot will do
At the inauguration, Ms Siddique said 49,156 women in Qambar Shahdadkot will be helped to obtain Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs)—Pakistan's national ID cards—and complete voter registration. An earlier ECP outline for a two-district pilot put the Qambar Shahdadkot target at 59,156 as part of a combined goal of 174,845 women with Kasur in Punjab; the two figures for this district do not match, and both appear in official descriptions of the drive.
She told the meeting that the gender gap in the district was once more than 11 percent and has been brought down to 8.2 percent through work by election staff, the district administration and other partners. The remaining gap of about 49,000, she said, still needs to be removed.
Priority will go to statistical blocks where the male–female registration gap is widest. In November, election representatives are to make door-to-door visits and run a district-wide survey to find eligible women. One account of the launch said 839 CBCs will be used for that door-to-door registration work.
CNICs, NADRA vans and free cards
Ms Siddique linked the shortfall to money problems, low awareness, transport hurdles and other barriers that stop women getting CNICs. A CNIC is needed to vote and for many everyday services, she stressed.
She said the Chief Election Commissioner has told the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), which issues CNICs, to provide free cards for women. Fridays are to be set aside for women, with photographs taken by female NADRA staff. NADRA mobile registration vans are to issue CNICs at women's doorsteps, and centres in government buildings will also offer CNIC and voter registration services.
She asked civil society, the media and related institutions for full cooperation, and said results from this pilot could guide similar work in other districts. She also noted that women's registration is higher than men's in Sri Lanka, while in Kamber the women's rate remains lower.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 31 October 2026: The ECP sets out a pilot in Kasur and Qambar Shahdadkot from December 2026 to February 2027, aiming to register 174,845 women (115,689 in Kasur and 59,156 in Qambar Shahdadkot), with data collection in November.
- November 2026: Preparatory surveys and door-to-door identification of eligible women are scheduled across the Sindh district.
- Early November 2026: Nighat Siddique inaugurates the Qambar Shahdadkot pilot at the Deputy Commissioner's Office; she cites a gap of about 49,000 and a facilitation figure of 49,156 women.
- December 2026–February 2027: The main registration phase is planned, with NADRA vans, local enumerators and monitoring by the ECP's gender wing, provincial and district commissioners and coordination centres.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Qambar Shahdadkot mein Election Commission ne khawateen ko vote ke liye register karne ka pilot shuru kiya hai. Yahan mard aur auraton ke voters mein lagbhag 49,000 ka farq bataya gaya hai. Auraton ko muft CNIC aur ghar ke paas registration ki sahulat di jaegi. Is se un ka naam vote ki list mein aana aasan hona chahiye.
