80,000 Pak prisoners denied right to vote in upcoming election

Pakistan general election is around the corner and political candidates have been trying for that extra votes. But, 80,000 prisoners across the country have been denied the 'right and facility' to vote.

Jail manual clearly states that prisoners have the right to take part in the electoral process and casting vote through postal ballots should be arranged by the prison administration. But, till now there have been no arrangements to make sure the prisoners can vote.

Sources shared Punjab alone has 49,000 prisoners, including 1,000 women across 40 different prisons in the province. There are 19,000 prisoners in Sindh alone. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, some 10,050 prisoners including 220 women are kept in 23 prisons. In Balochistan, there are some 2,100 prisoners including 20 women in 11 prisons across the province.

Sindh Nusrat Mangan, the former Inspector General said,"Inmates were not given the facility to vote during the 2013 elections. Mere 10 prisoners cast their vote in the 2008 elections," Mangan also added that the right to vote is the basic.

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