ECP finalizes arrangements for by-election in 3 NA constituencies

Peshawar: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday has finalized arrangements for the by-election scheduled on October 13 (Sunday) on three vacant National Assembly seats from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The election campaign will end tomorrow (Friday) at midnight. The candidates violating the ban will face action under Election Act 2017. The constituencies wherein a by-election is scheduled included NA-22 Mardan, NA-24 Charsadda, and NA-31 Peshawar-V respectively.

The total number of voters in these constituencies is over 1450,000, out of which the number of men voters is over 8,50,000 while 6,42,000 are women voters.

The polling will begin at 8:00 A.M and will continue till 5:00 P.M. without any intervals. However, voters present inside the polling stations will be allowed to cast their votes despite the expiry of the time.

A total of 16 candidates are in run from these constituencies. 4 each candidates are in run from NA-22 Mardan and NA-24 Charsadda while 8 candidates are contesting from NA-31, and Peshawar-V respectively.

According to a spokesman of the Provincial Election Commission, 979 polling stations have been established in all three NA constituencies including 429 polling stations for men and 351 for women while 199 polling stations are for both men and women.

Out of the 979 polling stations 745 have been declared as highly sensitive and 234 as sensitive. The police have adopted abreast security measures.

The election material including ballot papers would be handed over to presiding officers on October 15 (Saturday) and dispatched to polling stations.

For evolving election strategy, a meeting among all returning officers, district administration, and concerned officers was also held to conduct this phase of the by-election in a better manner.

Special training has also been imparted to all presiding officers and polling staff for the compilation of election results. Media has been restricted from broadcasting any unofficial result till the passage of one month after the closure of the polling.

The Provincial Election Commissioner (PEC), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mohammad Farid Khattak has urged all voters and particularly women to exercise their right to vote by visiting polling stations without any fear or threat to perform their national duty.