Daily Times July 2, 2021 A fair election to parliament (National Assembly & Senate), provincial assemblies and even local governments has always been a major concern for the public. Largely, because the sole body tasked with organising and holding free, fair and transparent elections—Election Commission of Pakistan—is overburdened. Our national stance has always been that “centralised” elections are more “fair” unlike the federal elections held in the US. There, more than 10,000 “entities” are responsible for holding elections as they believe “decentralised” elections cannot be “rigged.” Even in India, election to the municipalities (local governments) is organised by the State Election Commission, not the Election Commission of India. Whatever the theory – elections must not be rigged, period. How a vote is cast and counted or an election result consolidated is just one of the numerous factors behind holding a “fair” election. For example, in Georgia, the US, Election Integrity Act, 2021 was passed that, amongst other things, imposed a ban on providing water or food to voters standing in line to vote. We may be a bit far away from such fair and balanced if not humanly “perfect” electoral laws. But the bar needs to be set at a minimum (if not higher) for what is known as “fair election.” The present amendment to the Election Act, 2017, cannot be an exception.