Dawn Images

Voting day — February 8 — is getting closer, and whether it’s your first time voting or you’re a seasoned voter, you will definitely see these five types of voters at your polling session.

1. The over-prepared one

This person was READY for voting day before the Election Commission of Pakistan was ready. They have all the required official, original documents on hand — and yes, they will be reminding you repeatedly in the line that you should only have original documents. Try to ignore the slightly holier-than-thou tone, they’re just excited for the big day.

Their over-preparedness will make you feel under-prepped and have you checking your pockets twice to make sure you have identification (original, of course) and are at the right polling station.

These people know all about the candidates standing from their constituencies and have researched not just them but those in the neighbouring constituencies too. They will most certainly be showing off their knowledge in the lines, but maybe others should listen when they are talking and can make a more informed decision.

2. The one who wants to show off their inked thumb

This person — probably a first-time voter — is only there to get the little ink notch on their thumb so that they can show off that they voted. Their Instagram story with five different hashtags will be uploaded before you have even woken up that day. The story is, of course, separate from the elaborate Instagram post detailing their entire experience and concluding with another picture of their thumb, maybe with their friends and families’ thumb pictures as well.

This person sometimes overlaps with another category, which is…

3. The freebie collector

The freebie collector is just that — voting to show their mark and collect all possible free goodies and discounts various outlets offer.

• Free coffee? Check.
• Free doughnut? Check.
• Free cookie? Check.
• Minor discount at clothing store? Check.

This person may not be the most informed voter, but they’ll definitely turn up and vote. As soon as they exit the polling station they zoom over to the nearest place offering free goodies, thumb at the ready.

4. The cynic

The cynic is skeptical of everything and anything. Go ahead and ask them anything. Are the elections free and fair at all? Are any candidates trustworthy? Does one party have a higher chance of winning over the other? They have doubts about EVERYTHING.

The cynic is recognisable by the permanent frown gracing their face. This is the person who will stand next to you in line and spew multiple conspiracy theories about why “the system is broken”. Which system, you ask? All of them.

But even with all their doubts, they’ll still turn up to vote — and we’re proud of them!

5. The underprepared

This person is on the opposite end of the spectrum from those who are over-prepared, that is, they simply don’t know anything about what is going on and what they should be doing on election day.

They most definitely pulled up to the polling station with a copy of their CNIC instead of the original and will be making at least one trip back home because of how many things they forgot to bring with them.

Someone in line will probably have to remind them to text their CNIC number to 8300 so they can find out their silsila number two minutes before they enter the station. Will they remember to submit their phone after entering? Probably not.

Be ready for a lot of questions if you stand next to them in line — but hey, at least they’re voting! They can be identified by the perpetual confused look on their faces and the frantic searching of their pockets and bags.

Regardless of which category you fall under, or if you have a special sixth category, we urge all our readers to make their voices heard and cast their votes this election day. And hey, you might just get a free coffee out of it!