Dawn : Pakistan finds 28 million 'lost' voters

Pakistan finds 28 million 'lost' voters

Reuters | October 26, 2007

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's Election Commission has issued a “final list” of voters, putting the electorate at 80 million, an increase of 28 million from the first draft list published in June, an official said on Friday.

The missing voters became a contentious topic earlier this year after the commission's first draft put the number at 52 million, 20 million fewer than voted in the 2002 election.

“We have issued the final list of 80 million voters for the next polls,” commission Secretary Kanwar Mohammad Dilshad told Reuters.

“This is an ongoing process and voters can still be included until the election schedule is announced.”

The new list builds on the original 2002 voter base and adds millions of people who have since turned 18, Dilshad said.

Roughly half of Pakistan's 160 million people are below 18.