ECP declares 20,498 polling stations as ‘sensitive’

Thousands of polling stations lack basic amenities

ISLAMABAD: Of the 86,436 proposed polling stations for the upcoming general elections, 20,498 have been declared sensitive --- a term used for the venues where there can be challenges of maintaining law and order, election officials revealed on Tuesday.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday reviewed preparations for the upcoming general elections due by end of July.
It directed provincial chief secretaries to ensure security of returning officers and polling staff.

The ECP has already appointed district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) mostly from the lower judiciary while assistant returning officers (AROs) from civil bureaucracy, mainly the district administration group officers.



It would be hiring the services of hundreds of thousands of government officials, primarily teachers for polling duties.

Election authorities would conduct training of DROs on May 15 and 16 and train ROs from May 17 to 30. All those DROs and ROs will take oath of impartiality during this week.

The ECP meeting also decided that CCTV cameras will be installed for four days at all polling stations tagged sensitive around polling dates.
Among the polling stations tagged sensitive, 5,568 are identified in Punjab, 5,776 in Sindh, 7,386 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 1,786 in Balochistan.

As per the polling scheme announced by the ECP a few months ago, as many as 86,436 polling stations will be set up for the elections -- 48,667 polling stations in Punjab and 18,647 in Sindh. In Fata and K-P, 14,655 polling stations will be established and 4,467 in Balochistan.

The ECP had pointed to the flaws and lack of amenities in thousands of buildings -- mostly schools -- that would be used as polling stations.

According to ECP officials, 4,834 proposed polling stations did not have outer boundaries, 6,942 did not have electricity supply. At least 7,371 lacked water supply system and 7,371 polling stations did have a central gate while almost 4,011 stations lacked washroom facilities.

Chief secretaries briefed the election commission about the progress made in providing missing facilities at those buildings and assured the participants that all amenities would be there before the polling day.

The meeting also decided that heightened security measures will be taken for the upcoming general elections keeping in mind the recent attack on Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

“Providing security at the polling stations is a big challenge,” ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob told the members, adding, “If any of the returning officers (RO) face any kind of security risk, it can sabotage the whole election exercise.”

“The attack on the interior minister is before everyone,” Yaqoob added.