National Assembly, along with the Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies, is nearing the end of its tenure in less than two months. In light of this, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has initiated preparations for conducting the major electoral exercise.
Under the leadership of Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, a meeting of the ECP was held, where Secretary of the Commission, Omar Hamid Khan, briefed on the steps and arrangements made so far for the upcoming general elections.
They stated that the procurement of essential election material and ballot papers has been completed, and their secure storage has been ensured.
They mentioned that a draft of the polling stations’ list has also been prepared, which will be handed over to the returning officers immediately after notification so that they can publish it initially.
After hearing the concerns and suggestions of the voters, the Election Commission will ensure its final publication in accordance with the law.
According to the law, the final date for voter registration, removal, and verification is July 13th.
For this purpose, the ECP has launched an awareness campaign and is in contact with all relevant institutions for the printing and distribution of electoral lists, including Nadra.
The ECP was also briefed on the conduct of local government elections in Punjab and Balochistan.
The Commission was informed that the Balochistan government needs to issue a notification in accordance with the order of the Balochistan High Court dated December 23, 2022, which requires providing the ECP with the number of towns, seats, and other statistics/information of constituencies in Quetta, so that the ECP can initiate the delimitation process.
