ISLAMABAD: While the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has formally asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold local government elections in the province ‘as soon as possible’, it has yet to forward to the commission the updated local government rules – an essential prerequisite for developing an election schedule.

A senior ECP official told Dawn on Saturday that the KP local government secretary had been asked at the commission’s last meeting to amend the local government rules to conform with the new law, passed by the KP assembly.

“The ECP will meet early next week to examine the request received from KP on Friday,” the official said.

The official said there were around a dozen anomalies that had been pointed out and which should have been addressed before the requisition for holding polls was forwarded to the ECP.

He said that the printing of 100 million ballot papers and 1.2m nomination forms was a time-consuming exercise. Ballot papers were to be printed in seven different colours and some of these colours were not available with the Printing Corporation of Pakistan (PCP).

He said the procurement of biometric machines to be used in Ghazi tehsil, data storage and logistical planning for their deployment to polling stations would also require months of planning and preparation.

The ECP official said the KP government had agreed to bear the financial cost associated with the biometric machines, but wondered how the introduction of these machines in a single district could ensure fair elections in the entire province. He pointed out that the ECP could have conducted LG polls in the province in June, had the KP government agreed to hold polls elections without biometrics.

He said the ECP wanted the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to make the biometric machines available on a turnkey basis, but Nadra was only ready to offer technical assistance.

He said the technical help included specifications, quality testing, entry of electoral rolls and voters’ fingerprint data as well as technical training. He said there were many issues regarding the biometric machines that needed to be discussed between the commission, Nadra and the KP government.

Under the laws and rules framed by the KP government, the ECP has 60 to 90 days to hold local government elections after a formal request by the government.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2014