Regional
Polling of local government elections Balochistan's 32 districts underway
Over 2,000 polling stations declared extremely sensitive
Quetta: Polling has started for Local Bodies Elections in 32 districts of Balochistan amid tight security arrangements.
According to an official handout of the Election Commission, polling will continue till 5:00 on Sunday evening without any break.
According to details, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has declared over 2,000 polling stations sensitive and the provincial government has enhanced security to avert any untoward incident during polling.
In Balochistan, a total of 17,774 candidates are contesting the LG elections. Chief Minister Balochistan, Mir Quddus Bizenjo ordered the release of Rs600 million to meet the expenses of the elections including logistics expenditures of the election staff and law enforcement agencies.
According to Provincial Election Commission, the total number of registered voters in the 32 districts is 3,552,398 with over 2,000,000 male voters and 1,546,124 female voters.
The ECP has set up 13,533 polling booths in 5,624 polling stations across 32 districts. Election results will be announced on June 2.
The voters will exercise their votes for seven Municipal Corporations, 49 Municipal Committees, and 838 Union Councils in these districts. There are 6,259 wards including 5,345 rural and 914 urban.
On the other hand, a special security plan was made to ensure peaceful and smooth polling.
Besides, 45,438 security personnel — including members of the police, Levies, Anti-Terrorist Force, and Frontier Corps (FC) — will be deployed in and around polling stations. Army troops along with FC personnel would be deployed at all tentative polling stations.