Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has completed all the preparations for the 11th general elections scheduled for today (Wednesday).

The polling will begin at 8am and conclude without any break at 6pm. The government has also announced July 25 a public holiday to encourage maximum number of voters. As many as 53,000 international, national, local and media observers will monitor one of the most-watched elections in the country’s history.

The election campaign by political parties concluded across the country on Monday midnight, while those found violating the law will be imprisoned for two years or fined Rs 100,000 as per the law.

Winding up their campaigns all political parties and independent candidates have made last ditch efforts through public gatherings, corner meetings and door-to-door campaigns to garner maximum public support.

Over 12,570 candidates are vying for national and provincial assemblies. Against the National Assembly seats, as many as 3,675 candidates are in the electoral race whereas 8,895 are vying for the provincial legislatures.

From Sindh, 872 are contesting for the National Assembly seats and 2,382 for the provincial assembly.

For Balochistan’s National Assembly seats, there are a total of 303 candidates and 1,007 for its provincial assembly seats, including 287 general seats of National Assembly and 943 seats of the provincial assembly.

In Islamabad, 76 candidates are in the race for three National Assembly seats.

According to the electoral rolls, 105.96 million people, including 59 males and 49 female voters, are eligible to cast their ballots. In all, 85,307 polling stations and 241,132 polling booths have been established across the country.

Over 20,000 polling stations have been declared sensitive whereas CCTV cameras have been installed inside and outside 70 of them. The Pakistan Army has completed deployment of troops across the country in respective areas of responsibility to provide mandated assistance to the ECP for holding free, fair and transparent Elections 2018.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the troops would coordinate with other law enforcement agencies and local administration for ensuring safe and secure environment on the polling day.

As many as 450,000 policemen and 350,000 army troops have been deployed for the polling day. The ECP has issued special directives to the polling staff according to which senior presiding officers will serve the same duty as that of assistant presiding officer (APO). Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (r) Sardar Muhammad Raza on Tuesday assured voters that the ECP was “trying its best to hold free, fair and unbiased elections”.

In a video message released by the election body, Raza urged voters to fulfil their duty towards the nation by casting their votes responsibly. Over the past few days, the ECP has released multiple notifications for voters, polling staff and political parties, explaining what to do – and what not to do – on polling day.

Voters can get details about their respective polling stations by sending their CNIC numbers to 8300. Information about polling station can also be obtained from provincial and regional offices of ECP and information centres established in district offices. Three main contenders have emerged among the dozens of political parties in the election fray: the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Bilawal-led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Published in Daily Times, July 25^th 2018.