KARACHI: Brisk polling began in Karachi and other parts of West Pakistan, excluding the Special Areas, yesterday to elect members to the Electoral College. The polling will continue till Nov 9 for electing over 34,000 Basic Democrats.

The total number of members from West Pakistan will be 40,000. In East Pakistan, the polling commences on Nov 10 to elect a similar number of Basic Democrats. The 80,000 members from both the wings will form the Electoral College for the next Presidential election and later for the election of members to the National and Provincial Assemblies.

According to reports reaching Karachi last night, the polling was brisk both in the urban and rural areas of West Pakistan. Male and female voters for whom separate booths were set up had flocked to the polling stations since early morning and stood in queues to cast their votes from 8a.m. to 3p.m. The polling is being held in 1,561 units, out of 1,907 units in the Karachi district, while 332 candidates have retuned unopposed. No nominations were filed in 14 units. In all, 554 candidates contested for 162 seats yesterday. There were 162 polling stations functioning in various parts of the district. Of these, over 140 polling booths were in educational institutions.

Published in Dawn, November 1st , 2014