e for election

The day of the elections – February 18 – is here. Some of us must be looking forward to casting our vote, while others will be resolutely planning to stay away from polling stations either because of indifference, or a belief that the result of the election is compiled elsewhere, irrespective of the majority votecaste. Whichever category you fall into, it is hard to stay away from election coverage. Political advertisements are increasing in frequency and a major chunk of any news bulletin is devoted to election campaigns of various political parties. Even talk shows are focusing on the different aspects of the elections, as well as different constituencies and their candidates.

The cyber world, as usual, is not to be left behind. Pakistan Elections 2008 is one website which is totally devoted to disseminating news and views related to the elections. This website is a joint venture of Pak Tribune and Pak Cyber, the two well-known news portals.

If you are planning to vote, you can use this website in various ways. To begin with, you can check whether or not your name is actually present on the list of voters. When you point and click on the relevant section, you will be asked to select your province and then enter your NIC number. If you do not have an NIC number, you will have to enter your name and the name of your father/husband. Moreover, you can also use this website to discover and memorise the symbol of your preferred political party. The names and symbols of all the parties have also been displayed here.

There is a section on key contenders, where detailed profiles of many key political figures are displayed. So you can read up on the likes of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman if your wish. The profiles include the candidates’ political careers, and you can also access their individual party websites and find out the number of seats they are contesting, both in the national and provincial assemblies.

One of the most interesting features of this website, which will come in extremely handy on the day of the elections itself, is the result category. There are two sections dedicated to results. One section will contain a summary of results, while the other section will contain results of individual seats. You can, hence, log on to this website and find out the results as they come in.

This website also features news, articles and editorials which will definitely leave you with food for thought. Moreover, you can also subscribe to a newsletter, which will be e-mailed to you. As with most websites, there are forums here as well. You can make an account, log in and discuss different issues related to elections. And for those who want a good laugh, check out the section on political cartoons where you will find quite an assortment.

So there you have it – a website which is devoted to election coverage. Whether or not you are voting, this is the place where you can keep yourself updated on all that is happening on the election front.

To access in-depth election coverage, log on to http://www.elections.com.pk