Daily Times

Pakistan is about to hold general elections on July 25, and preparations are in full swing. The teaching staff of provincial education departments and institutes working under Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has been asked to stay on duty at their stations during the ongoing summer vacations.

Teachers will perform duties as polling staff and the purpose of placing this restriction is to ensure that the imminent general elections go smoothly. Though teachers are desperately needed for election duty, sadly no initiative has been taken to address the genuine concerns and problems they experience while carrying out their election duty.

The fact is that polling station staffs play a central and crucial role in the elections. It is the polling staff that ensures that voters, political parties, candidates, and agents have confidence in the election process.

The vital role the polling staff carries out at the polling station is to ensure that voters are able to cast their vote in secret, free from any kind of influence, and in a peaceful atmosphere.

Reportedly, more than 0.9 million persons will join as polling staff, and will perform duties during the forthcoming general election of 2018. Of the overall appointed polling staff, approximately 99 per cent are school and college teachers who will perform the duties of presiding officers, assistant presiding officers, and polling officers. The election is believed to be a national duty and the teachers, the builders of a nation, always play a pivotal role in the whole election process.

It has always happened in Pakistan that all the credit for conducting elections goes to the District Returning Officers (DROs), Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP); however, more responsibilities are given to the Presiding Officers (POs) which they complete efficiently and professionally.

The PO is fully responsible for the efficient operation of the polling station ensuring that it functions in an orderly manner at all times. Assisted by polling staff, they are responsible for conducting peaceful, free,and fair elections. Acting impartially, in a polite and professional way, they deal with electors, candidates, agents and others entitled to be present in the polling station.

Moreover, the PO performs other duties such as maintaining or establishing peace at the polling station, smoothly conducting polling, dispute management and security of election material. They perform this daunting and daring task without the help of the DRO, RO, ARO or the ECP officials because they do not give their contact numbers to the POs. The DRO, RO and ARO just issue election material to the POs, collect the results from polling stations and compile them.

One cannot imagine what difficulties and problems the polling staff undergoes while on duty. The polling staff has to collect election material from the Returning Officer one day before the election.

The practice is very difficult, hectic and disrespectful for the PO and their polling staff, especially for the female presiding officers and their polling staff because to collect the material, they have to wait all the day for their turn in the RO’s office with no provision of food, water or proper seating.

The election is believed to be a national duty and teachers — the builders of a nation – always play a pivotal role in the whole election process

They take the material to the polling station and are responsible for the safety of the material and for keeping it intact on the day of the election. And after conducting the election proceedings, it is their duty to handover the election material to the Returning Officer.

Moreover, even the ECP itself makes no arrangements to provide food and water to the polling staff.

Although, the amount paid to the staff includes food money, yet from where and how they will go to buy food during the polling time is not addressed. The staff posted in far-flung areas reaches the polling station a day before the election, where no vendors and restaurants exist to purchase food and water. As the major political parties arrange foods, soft drinks and potable water for their polling agents and supporters at all polling stations, the staff remains dependent upon them.

The ECP also does not provide accommodation to the staff to spend the night. To conduct a fair and transparent process of election, the staff avoids staying at the house of landlords and influential person of that area for a night. The male staff spends the night at the polling station but the female staff has to spend the night in the houses of unknown persons, risking their safety.

Polling stations are established in schools and many of the polling stations in the rural regions of Pakistan lack basic facilities, such as electricity and furniture, including chairs and tables, which are desperately needed by the polling staff to conduct polls.

The ECP and all the responsible institutes and individuals should consider these demoralising and distressing problems faced by the POs and their staffs during the election.

The staff should be provided with all the facilities they need to ensure the procedure of elections continues smoothly.

The writer is an academic, and tweets @ARShykh

Published in Daily Times, July 10^th 2018.