The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that 93,371 polling stations will be set up across the country for the upcoming general elections.
According to a draft of the scheme prepared by the ECP, a total of 49,871 polling stations will be established in Punjab for the general elections. Of the total, 14,960 polling stations in Punjab have been declared highly sensitive. Whereas, 9,974 polling stations in the province have been declared sensitive.
In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a total of 15,708 polling stations will be set up. Of these, 4,296 have been declared highly sensitive.
A total of 6,549 polling stations in the province have been declared sensitive.
In Sindh, 19,348 polling stations will be established. Of these, 4,823 have been declared sensitive.
Similarly, 5,015 polling stations will be set up in Balochistan.
According to the polling scheme prepared by the commission, 2,083 polling stations have been declared sensitive in the province.
A total of 1,041 polling stations will be established in the federal capital.
Of these, 326 have been declared highly sensitive. Besides, 221 of them have been declared sensitive.
The election staff, including returning officers and assistant returning officers, will be appointed two months before the polls.
On Monday, the ECP held a high-level huddle, where it was revealed that the commission was fully prepared to conduct elections in the country as scheduled.
The commission has already procured election material for printing ballot.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired the meeting, attended by the ECP secretary and other senior officers of the electoral body.
All the four provincial members of the ECP participated in the meeting through video link.
According to a statement issued after the meeting, the ECP secretary told the participants that the commission was in contact with all the departments, including the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA), for preparation, printing, and transportation of electoral rolls.
The secretary said the ECP had purchased election material and paper for ballot papers and stored them in secure places.
The ECP is coordinating with all the provincial governments, Centre and other related institutions in order to ensure that the elections were held on time.
The participants of the meeting expressed their satisfaction over the arrangements made so far. The participants stressed the need for completing the process on time.
The participants of the huddle were also briefed about holding the local government elections in Punjab and Quetta district.
The ECP was told that the Balochistan government had to issue a notification in line with the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) order dated December 23, 2022.
The ECP has to provide details as to the number of towns and seats in Quetta.
The commission will start working on the demarcation of Quetta after that.
The ECP secretary was directed to contact the Balochistan chief secretary in this connection to ensure the immediate delimitation of the Quetta district.
The ECP was told that the registration of electoral groups in Punjab would be completed on July 17.
Once the caretaker Punjab government provided funds for the elections and made security arrangements, the ECP would issue the schedule for the LG elections in the province.
The ECP secretary was directed to contact the Punjab government in this connection and ensure that the local bodies elections were held in the province on time.
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