Candidates permitted to include nicknames on ballots

Elections Commission has made the decision to include the name by which candidates are commonly referred by, such as nicknames, in addition to their proper full name, in ballot papers for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Candidates were previously permitted only their given proper names on ballots. The parliamentary elections on April 6 will mark the first time candidates will be permitted to include their nicknames on ballots at a national election.

The decision was announced EC in a tweet last Tuesday night.

Spokesperson and member of EC, Ahmed Akram reported to ‘Sun’ this Wednesday that the decision was made to make it easier for voters to identify candidates.

“Some find it hard to identify just by the proper given name. These elections are for the people. So the people need to be able to identify who and who are contesting,” said Akram.

Akram stressed that despite the commission’s decision to allow inclusion of nicknames, each nickname will be screened, meaning improper nicknames will be rejected.

There are 390 candidates contesting for 87 constituencies in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

264,589 people have the right to vote in the elections, which is 2,454-people more than the 262,135 people who had the right to vote in the presidential election last year.