With political parties all set to enter the electoral race, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) revealed the final polling scheme for the February 8 elections, The News reported Saturday.
The electoral body envisaged a total of 90,675 polling stations with 276,402 polling booths to be set up across the country for over 128 million voters. A senior official conceded that 150,000 fewer polling booths are being established than required under the law, which will make it almost impossible at various places for all present to vote if the turn-out is high. As per the scheme, in Punjab, 50,944 polling stations will be established for the general elections, followed by 19,006 in Sindh, 15,697 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 5,028 in Balochistan.
The polling scheme has been published only after failing to meet the legal deadline and missing the timeline set by it, as Section 59(6) of the Elections Act, 2017, requires publication of the final list of polling stations of each constituency at least 30 days ahead of the polling day in the official Gazette as well as on the website of the ECP.
However, the electoral body was scheduled as per its announcement that the final polling scheme would be published 15 days before the polling date but could not do so.
The scheme outlines the distribution of polling stations across all four provinces and the federal capital, categorising them as normal, sensitive, or highly sensitive based on the security situation and electoral violence history. Meanwhile, the ECP took notice of the participation of assistant commissioner (HR&M) Kasur, returning officer of PP-178 Kasur-IV, in an election rally of a political party. District Education Officer (Elementary Education Mail) Kasur, Abdul Hafeez Baqapuri, has been posted as a returning officer in his place.
District monitoring officer Mardan has fined NA-23 candidate Aqib Ismail Rs50,000, district monitoring officer Bannu fined ANP candidate Noorani Khan Rs10,000 and district monitoring officer Mansehra fined PK-39 candidate Ikramullah Ghazi Rs10,000 for violating the model code of conduct. The candidates deposited the fine in the government treasury and submitted the challan. Likewise, in Punjab, the district monitoring officer Multan fined candidates for PP-214 Shahzad Maqbool Bhatta and Muhammad Sharif Rajput Rs15,000 each, while district monitoring officer Layyah fined candidate for PP-282 Usama Gujjar Rs20,000 each.
At the same time, banned publicity hoardings and materials are also being removed daily in the four provinces and Islamabad, while district monitoring officers in different districts have sought notices to seven candidates for violating the code of conduct so that further action can be taken as per the law. So far, 71 notices have been issued to candidates and others for various violations in the four provinces and action is underway on them. A total of 24 candidates and the chairman and district chairman of the local government have been fined.
The ECP is now faced with a new situation after the Supreme Court of Pakistan allowed some candidates to take part in elections, as the printing of ballot papers in a few of them has been already completed.
It has been learnt that the printing of ballot papers in the light of the apex court verdict, would be possible in the end, as printing is underway under a tight schedule to ensure their timely transportation to the constituencies across the country. A senior official pointed out that the ECP had already stated that the elections could be postponed in constituencies where ballot papers have to be reprinted. In a related development, the Election Commission has issued a notification to authorise district returning officers and returning officers with magisterial powers first class under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898) with immediate effect and until the consolidation and announcement of official results in relation to the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies elections.
