06/11/2020
An online survey was conducted from 27 October to 5 November 2020. The aim was to collect GBians' opinion about the flaws in our electoral systems – given that the 3rd Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly election, is set to be held on November 15, 2020, in 24 constituencies. Close-ended questioners were disseminated through social media platforms. The questionnaires were designed using the SurveyMonkey app to send a quick poll.
More than 70 individuals responded. The respondents were from Skardu, Roundu, Shiger, Ghanche, Hunza, Astore, Gilgit, and Nagar. 80% of the total respondents were male, female participation was less.
Almost all the respondents believed that the existing system generally curtails voters vote for individual candidates and have representatives tied to their communities in the provincial assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan. They think that the existing 'voting system' deployed in Gilgit-Baltistan is inconvenient and doesn't convince or provide the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice. The majority of the responders think that going to the polling station on election day is a tiring activity.
The majority of the respondents denied when they were asked that if in their view polling staffs at the polling stations are unfriendly. The majority of the respondents think that election time must be expanded to more than just 1 day, so everyone gets equal opportunity to vote for their favorite candidates.
A significant majority think there are no clear directions in casting votes of those outside Gilgit-Baltistan, or Pakistan, so it clearly disadvantages a contestant whose voters/supporters are out of station for a living or other purpose. A majority think that women's turnout during the election is lesser compared to men. Only a slim majority believe that the security arrangements at the polling stations are inadequate, so people are reluctant to go to polling stations on polling day.
The only comment box at the end of questionnaires allowed the respondents to write their free opinions and some of them were quite interesting. Some said that the election systems must be modernized, following the ones currently applied in the developed countries, so the most popular representative make it to the assembly. Few of the respondents alleged that the elections are just ordinary practice to fool people, with no extraordinary results. The winners are pre-decided by the hidden influencers. One of the responders highlighted some significant points saying that to increase the turnout, particularly of women voters, the electoral lists must be arranged systematically – so everyone gets the chance to vote at the nearest polling station. It continued by saying that the GB diaspora living outside GB must be given an opportunity to express their rights, through a sophisticated remote voting mechanism.
-Team GTB
