ISLAMABAD, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has allowed the overseas Pakistanis to use an online voting system to cast their votes in the upcoming by-polls, a statement said on Thursday.
It would be the first time in the country's history that overseas Pakistanis are allowed to cast their votes in the local elections while staying abroad.
Earlier on Aug. 17, the Supreme Court of Pakistan passed a long-awaited judgment permitting Pakistanis residing abroad to cast their votes in the elections.
The judgment was issued by the court while hearing a petition filed by Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan who now serves as prime minister of the country.
The ECP said if the pilot project of overseas Pakistanis voting in the by-elections concludes successfully, it might be used for the next general elections in 2023.
The voter registration process will start on Saturday and it will continue for 15 days. Overseas Pakistanis are advised to register themselves with the ECP through a dedicated website.
The overseas voters will only be able to vote in the constituencies their vote is registered in.
According to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, around 7.6 million Pakistanis are living abroad, out of which nearly 4 million are living in the Middle East.
Overseas Pakistanis, who are the 6th largest diaspora in the world, sent remittances amounting to some 20 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, said a report from the State Bank of Pakistan.
