The provincial election commission is ready to hold local government polls at any moment the government asks it to as all preparations for the purpose have been finalised.
This was stated by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Election Commissioner Sharif Ullah while addressing the media on Thursday after attending a meeting on the registration of women, people with special abilities and people who are transgender in the voters' list.
The election commissioner said the initial lists carrying delimitation of constituencies of local bodies have been published while preparations for appointing returning officers and deputy returning officers have also been finalised.
He said that the final decision on a date for polls will be taken by the provincial government, even though the commission was ready to hold the polls at any moment.
Sharif further said that the final lists of delimited constituencies for local government elections will be published after objections have been filed, reviewed and addressed by the relevant authorities.
Explaining the delays in conducting the by-elections for the national and provincial assemblies seats, he said that their schedules were affected by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and a subsequent lockdown imposed by the federal and provincial governments in a bid to arrest the fast-evolving situation.
However, he assured that by-polls for the provincial assembly and national assembly seats though can be held in the first two months of next calendar year.
The provincial election commissioner said awareness campaigns are underway to increase women participation in the electioneering process.
The ratio of women voters have increased, he stated.
The process for delimiting village and neighbourhood councils in the province for local government elections had begun in July this year which was completed in a little over three months.
Ballot papers for LG polls
The provincial election commissioner further said that as many as six ballot papers have been prepared for the next local bodies election.
Realising that this may confuse voters he said that an awareness drive will be launched to inform the public about the ballot papers so that votes are not rejected due to lack of information amongst voters.
He urged the civil society to play its role in creating awareness amongst the public regarding the processes of local bodies polls.
Only 129 transgender registered in voter ists
Owing to internal differences amongst various groups representing the transgender community, only as few as 129 people who are transgender have registered to vote in the province so far.
This was disclosed during a meeting regarding the registration of women, people with special abilities and transgender people in the voters' list.
It was informed that a great number of transgender have been deprived of voting rights.
The meeting was informed that different bodies working for the rights of the transgender community have not provided information for registration in the voters' list.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2020.
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