1,646 polling stations most sensitive

Election material to be provided on March 30, the day before polls

PESHAWAR:

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has declared 1,646 polling stations in the 18 districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) most sensitive while 2,326 polling stations have been declared sensitive for the second phase of local bodies’ polls scheduled for March 31.

Polls would be held in 65 tehsil councils of 18 districts and there are 8.57 million registered voters in these districts.

“Around 6,176 polling stations have been established for this purpose and CCTV cameras would be installed at most sensitive polling stations,” said an official, adding that there were around 28,020 candidates in the field.

There are 651 candidates for city mayor or tehsil chairman seats.

“All the preparations have been completed for the polls and election material would be provided to the staff on March 30,” he said, adding that security arrangements have also been finalised for the polling,” he said.

A high level meeting was held here to review the arrangements for polling in Peshawar on Friday. It was chaired by Chief Secretary K-P Dr Shahzad Khan and attended by IGP, deputy commissioners and all the 18 districts and other government secretaries.

Police was instructed to provide extra security for women polling stations as well as sensitive and most sensitive polling stations.

Provincial Election Commissioner Muhammad Razaaq on this occasion said that all the government employees and departments are bound to cooperate with the ECP during elections. He said that the code of conduct should also be strictly implemented. All the voters should be provided with the freedom to vote without any restriction.

“All the presiding officers would be provided polling material on March 30 and transportation as well as security for this should be provided by the administration,” he said, adding that strict security should be provided to the offices of district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) during the tabulation of the poll results.

He hoped that like the first phase of polling the second phase would also be a success.

Briefing the meeting about the security IGP said that security has been arranged for all polling stations and reserve squads will also be used in addition to sending contingents from other districts.

Secretary local government said on this occasion that his department is constantly in touch with the ECP and every possible help would be provided.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2022.