May 11 elections: ECP releases voting day details

Decides to shift few polling stations.

ISLAMABAD:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said on Saturday that voting would start from 8am and continue till 5 pm on May 11 without an interval.

A statement issued by ECP also addresses complaints on the location of polling stations. The commission says it will change the location of certain polling stations from where ‘genuine complaints’ have been received.

According to the ECP secretariat, the commission had received complaints from across the country about the incorrect location of some polling stations and has decided to send all such complaints to the concerned Provincial Election Commissioners (PECs) for examination.

The PECs have also been directed to send their reports on each complaint with their own views attached for the record. On receipt of such reports, the ECP may pass appropriate orders in its next meeting.

ECP spokesperson Khursheed Alam said that any polling station that is wrongly located would be shifted to an appropriate location aimed at facilitating all the voters equally. He added that if a polling station is located in a sparsely-populated area, it would be shifted closer to the majority population. Likewise, he added that polling stations will also be moved if some voters cannot access certain areas due to tribal conflicts or security reasons.

PS-64 Mirpurkhas candidate dies

In the statement, the ECP also said that, following the death of Waqar Buland Khan, a contesting candidate from PS-64 Mirpurkhas, the concerned returning officer has terminated proceedings relating to elections in that constituency.

Fresh proceedings will commence after the general elections and the schedule for the said constituency will be announced by the ECP in due course as per its rules.  The ECP further clarified that it would not be necessary for the other contesting candidates to file fresh nomination papers.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2013.