Guidelines for PTI Overseas Intra Party Elections

PTI GERMANY Elections 2015

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Contents:

1)

Paid Membership Process

2)

Voter Eligibility

3)

Elections Process
I. Demarcation
II. Elected positions
III. Format of elections
IV. Candidates eligibility to contest in intra-party elections
V. Nomination process & fees

4)

Code of Conduct for Elections

5)

Election Commission
I. Role & responsibilities
II. Contact details

6)

Conflict Resolutions Committee (CRC)

I. Role & responsibilities
II. Contact Details

7)

Complaints Procedure

8)

Procedure of SMS voting

9)

Elections Schedule and key dates

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1)

Paid Membership Process

a. You must be 18 years old or above to become a paying member of PTI.
b. All membership data must be entered using the electronic online form
provided on insaf.pk. (Paper forms are no longer accepted).
c. Membership fee is fixed equivalent to:
i.

36 Euro or equivalent per year per person (year starts from the
date of elected body taking over its office)

ii.

12 Euros per year for students (copy of valid student card is

required)

Note: The fee is payable in full and is accepted under the understanding
that it is a donation to the party.
d. Payments for memberships can be made using a credit card; debit card;
PayPal; Western Union or bank transfers. Cash payments are strictly
prohibited and are no longer accepted. In case of making a payment using
electronic transfer, bank deposit or Western Union, it will be members
responsibility to use the membership number - emailed to them after
online registration as reference when submitting funds.
e. Family membership is available for those families who have more than
one member interested to sign-up and would like to register together as
members. Family membership is only available to immediate family
members who are over the age of 18 and residing at same address. Paid
members those who sign-up using family membership option, can either
vote together or opt-in to receive separate text messages. For example, if
there are three paid members on one family membership they can either
receive one text message to the mobile number provided to cast all three
votes together or opt-in to receive separate messages for voting purposes.
To opt-in to receive separate messages, each family member must email at
membership@finance.insaf.pk and provide a valid mobile number along
with their membership number.

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f. Every member must ensure that a valid mobile number is provided at

registration stage as voting will take place via text messages.
g. Any membership issues must be addressed to the Election Commission
PTI GERMANY.

h. It is members responsibility to specify if he/she would like to share his/her

contact details to be shared with contesting candidates or not during
registration. Election Commission shall not share contact details with
contesting candidates unless advised otherwise.
i. To ease payment method, a member who does not have a credit card or
PayPal account can ask someone else to pay on his/her behalf, however a
limit of 4 membership fees payment by any one person will be placed to
prevent bulk membership registration.
j. In case of first time elections in a chapter, the last years paid members
have a right to participate in elections.
2)

Voter Eligibility
To vote in a PTI GERMANY intra-party election a person must become a
registered paid member before the announced membership cut-off date.

3)

Elections Process
I.

Demarcation
Country national or regional elections will be declared by Election
Commission along with consultation of OIC after membership cut-off date
(depending on the number of registered paid members).
Elected positions
PTI GERMANY elected Body shall consist of a President, Vice President,
Information Secretary and General Secretary.

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II.

Format of elections
Elections will be contested in panel format. Each panel must have a
candidate for four positions including President, Vice President, General
Secretary and Information Secretary. Panel names must not contain the
words PTI, Insaf, etc...

III.

Candidates eligibility to contest in intra-party elections

Any Pakistani origin legally residing paid member with sound character
and without criminal record is eligible to contest intra-party elections.
Residential address proof, utility bills, bank account statement of the
region, where candidate intends to contest or hold official designation, will
suffice for the qualification of a candidate.

IV.

Nomination process & fees

a. The election commission will make nomination & self-declaration forms
available to download from www.insaf.pk for all contestants. All
candidates must submit completed nomination & self-declaration forms
along with their profiles, elections manifesto no later than the nomination
cut-off date (see key dates for more information).
b. There will be a nomination fee of 100 Euros for position of President and
50 Euros each for positions of Vice President, Information Secretary and
General Secretary. All candidates must ensure that a valid proof of fee
submission into official PTI bank account must be attached to above
documents listed in point a.
c. No nomination papers will be accepted after the cut-off date.
d. Contesting panels can request election commission to send their profiles to
all paying members for purposes of their election campaign.

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4) Code of Conduct for Elections

The code of conduct for the PTI GERMANY elections is for all members in
general and membership coordinators in particular. All concerned are
asked to read it thoroughly and strictly abide by it. Any individuals or
collective act against the code of conduct below will result in immediate
disqualification from the election process. The Election Commission will
implement this code of conduct strictly to its letter and spirit.
a. After membership has been closed no gatherings or meetings should take
place for membership drive, any public contact should be initiated during
allocated campaign time.
b. There should be no self-announced bodies or committees, it should be clear
that all communication will be from OIC and Election Commission via
www.insaf.pk.
c. Until elections results are not published no unauthorised press releases or
any member/coordinator will allow media interaction related to election
results. This rule will be strictly enforced and any potential candidate
found to be violating would be risking their nomination.
d. All election candidates and members should not indulge in corrupt
practices, vote buying, threats of violence will not be tolerated.
e. None of PTI leadership should be invited to GERMANY during the
election period; the organisers will be responsible if any group invites any
central, regional or provincial leadership.
f. No financial inducement or inducement in kind may be offered to secure
support.
g. All members especially contestants must not take such actions which
would bring disrepute to the party i.e. personal attacks; maligning tactics
and abuse.
h. In case, if there is only one panel, YES and NO SMS policy will be
used.

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i. At the time of nominations, contesting panels are required to sign elected

body rules and regulations provided by OIC.
j. "OIC and Election Commission may review the limit of paying
membership in case the difference is small or smaller size of country with
respect to overseas Pakistanis".
k. Campaign activities can be posted on Insaf.pk but only through EC. Every
group will get equal chance/no of posts. Description of activities; 500
letters approximately and 4 pictures for each post. Total number of posts
allowed 08 for each group during the entire campaign.
5) Election Commission
I. Role & responsibilities
Role of Election Commission:
Election Commission shall ensure free and fair intra-party elections are
held and equal level playing field is provided to all eligible contestants.
Responsibilities of Members of Election Commission:
All members of election commission shall be equally responsible to:
a. Ensure paid-membership process defined by Office of International
Chapters is adhered to during membership campaign.
b. Verify voting list by scrutinising through sample testing or any other
means deemed necessary.
c. Published verified membership lists as per defined guidelines.
d. Scrutinise contestants nomination papers and ensure they fulfil eligibility
criteria.
e. Handle any complaints during membership or nominations process and
make equitable decisions.
f. Oversee the SMS voting process on elections day and, do spot checks if
necessary on actual votes.
g. Announce results
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h. Make sure all data handled by them during elections is treated with strict
confidentiality and not shared with any irrelevant person or body within
or outside the party.
i. Get Guidelines for Elected Body signed by contesting candidates well
before the election results
j. All notifications must go through OIC for publication on Insaf.pk.
k. In case of disagreement within EC, majority vote will be considered as
final decision.
II. Contact details
PTI GERMANY members or potential candidates can contact Chief or
members of election commission regarding any elections related queries on
elections@insaf.pk.
EC members contact details are:
1- Mr. Ata Muhammad
2- Mr. Farhat Faheem
3- Mr. Riaz Hassan

(Chief EC)
(Member)
(Member)

(atamuhammad@gmail.com)
(ffaheem.pti@gmail.com)
(riazh72@yahoo.com)

Please note no other form of communication will be accepted or responded

to, therefore, please use ONLY these contact details for any queries you
may have.
6. Conflict Resolutions Committee (CRC)
I. Role & responsibilities
Conflict Resolution Committee will address all post-elections complaints. All
complaints must be submitted to members of CRC on (EMAIL) with proper
subject. All complaints will be acknowledged and resolved within 1 week
from the date of complaint submission. Below are contact details of CRC
members.

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II. Contact details

1. Mr. Mushtaq Khan Jadoon
2. Mr. Yasir Iqbal Khan

( a.mushtaq@gypex.fr)
(yasirkhan@outlook.fr)

Please note no other form of communication will be accepted or responded to,

therefore, please use ONLY official email or in case the above contact details
for any post-election complaints you may have (in written).
7. Complaint Procedure
a. If any member/contestant wishes to register a complaint against any
candidate it must be done in writing via email to any of the election
commissioners.
b. All complaints must come with credible proof, as no allegations will be
considered without proof. Anyone making baseless allegations will be
potentially risking disciplinary action.
c. The Chief Election Commissioner will handle all complaints, and as per the
party rules his decision will be final.
d. All valid complaints will be acknowledged and given a response within 48
hours.
e. No complain will be entertained if addressed to unauthorised personnel.
Autonomy and respect of each institution is a must.
8. Procedure of SMS voting
a. On polling day, paid members will receive a SMS on their registered mobile
phone numbers containing the details of contesting panels. Each panel will be
allocated a 2-digit code and members will have to reply to the SMS using the
code allocated to their choice of panel.
b. Example of SMS is given below:
For panel ABC led by Mr John Smith reply 58
Or
For panel XYZ led by Mrs Fiona Gould reply 62

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c. A confirmation text will be sent once vote is successfully received by the

system. If you do not receive a text message confirmation within 30 minutes
of voting please contact at membership@finance.insaf.pk or call on helpline.
(Sometimes this problem comes because of international messaging and some
people do not have international SMS facility)
a. Our system will notify us about all those mobile numbers, which fail to
receive the SMS due to network problem. In this instance, we will
resend the text and, if required will contact the members and provide
instructions on how to cast their votes.
b. Helpline will be made available for members to call if they have any
issues. (Helpline number will be announced later.)
c. Members, who are travelling abroad and wish to receive voting SMS on
an alternative number, need to notify Election Commission at least 48
hours before polling day about the changes. Election Commission will
be unable to make changes to the database thereafter.
d. Any members those who sign-up through family membership and
would like to vote individually/separately, must provide separate
mobile number for each member at registration stage or by emailing at
least 48h hours before polling day at membership@finance.insaf.pk. If
individual numbers are not provided then system will allocate the
same vote choice to all members as selected by the lead family member.
For example, if family lead votes for a panel and, there are no mobile
phone numbers held for the rest of the family members then the same
panel choice will be applied to rest of family membership (family
members automatically get multiplied).
e. If member replies with something that does not match with any
available/valid 2-digit code of panels, he/she will be contacted by
election commission and asked to clarify.
f. Election Commission will not accept any requests to change vote once a
member casts his/her vote.

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g. PTI GERMANY Election Commission will coordinate with PTI

International Finance Board for technical support, which includes
administration of paid membership; voting list and polling via SMS.
h. Members,

who

are

in

abroad,

must

contact

Finance

Board

(membership@finance.insaf.pk) for their vote casting and follow the

procedure.
i. For those who did not receive the SMS; they are required to contact
Finance Board immediately for assistance and instructions for their
voting or calling after a security check.
j. Time for SMS voting will be from 9AM to 9PM locally.

9. Elections Schedule and key dates for PTI GERMANY

Task
Membership cut-off date

Date
01-05-15

Publication of verified membership list 05-05-15

Nomination forms & self declaration 07-05-15
form made available
Deadline for Nominations

11-05-15

Announce contesting panel

16-05-15

Deadline for any complaints & queries

20-05-15

Announce voting codes for panels

26-05-15

Election Day

31-05-15

Results

01-06-15

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