Pakistan aims for tighter security in 1st digital census

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Officials say Pakistan has launched its first-ever digital population and housing census to gather demographic data ahead of parliamentary elections this year. The national count launched on Wednesday will, for the first time, count transgender people. Results of the broader tally will be released in April and be used to make policy decisions on such matters as health and education. The digital census also is aimed at tighter security in an effort to avoid a repeat of the census of 2021. Those results, which were hand-tallied, were never announced over complaints about miscounts.