NA-120 by-poll: Army asks ECP to mount cameras in polling stations

Electoral watchdog has directed chief secretary to comply with the request

ISLAMABAD: In a significant development, Pakistan Army requested the election authorities on Wednesday to install CCTV cameras at all polling stations in NA-120 as well as the Printing Corporation of Pakistan (PCP) in Lahore where ballot papers are to be printed for the September 17 by-election.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has written to the chief secretary Punjab to comply with the request, according to an official handout.



“The ECP had requested Pakistan Army to provide security in the constituency, which has been accepted. Considering the constituency’s sensitivity, Pakistan Army has requested the ECP to deploy CCTV cameras at all polling stations and the Printing Corporation of Pakistan, Lahore,” a brief press statement issued by the ECP said.

The NA-120 seat from Lahore had fallen vacant after the Supreme Court disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as member of the Lower House of Parliament.

Sharif’s wife Kulsoom Nawaz is contesting the by-election in the National Assembly constituency. Imran Khan’s PTI has again fielded Dr Yasmeen Rashid, who had given a tough time to Sharif in the 2013 general election.

There are 321,633 registered voters in the constituency, and the ECP would set up as many as 220 polling stations – 103 for men, 98 for women and 19 combined. There will be 568 polling booths in these polling stations. Of the total, 310 will be for men and 258 for women.

Earlier, the ECP suffered a setback when the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) on Tuesday informed the election watchdog that it did not have the fingerprint record of more than 29,000 voters registered in the constituency.

The ECP sought the fingerprints of all voters registered in NA-120 to test its Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Biometric Verification Machines (BVM).



According to NADRA, as many as 2,200 of these voters were holders of National Identity Cards of Overseas Pakistanis (NICOPs) while others were issued CNICs when NADRA had not yet started taking fingerprint data before issuing cards.

After assessing the situation, the ECP decided to shelve its plan to use EVMs. It would now initiate a test of BVMs in 100 polling booths.

An interesting contest is expected between the PML-N, which traditionally has a strong hold in Lahore, and the PTI which is claiming inroads in various constituencies of the provincial capital, including NA-120.