LAHORE: The Supreme Court has been requested to direct the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take steps for fair and free election and to elaborate word “rigging” before the upcoming general election 2018, how it happened in the past and how it can be stopped in future.

Prof Mohsin Raza, who has served as presiding officer in many elections, made this request in a petition filed at the Lahore registry.

The petitioner states that presiding officers are responsible for conducting elections at the polling stations under the procedure as provided in the Peoples Representation Act 1976 and Election Act 2017 but the additional duty to collect election material from the returning officers and after conducting the polling to hand over the same is very unsafe as well as cumbersome.

He pleads that the election material should be provided to the presiding officers at the polling stations by the returning officers through the law-enforcement agencies and it may be collected from the polling stations after completion of the process.

The petitioner contends that for maintenance of law and order the police officials deployed on the polling stations may perform under the supervision of the Rangers or army, because the police officials are often having relations with the candidates, their supporters and the workers of political parties.

He further states that a polling station is the basic unit for the process of election that should be fully safe and the presiding officer and his/her polling staff is responsible to conduct peaceful free and fair election, while additional duties like law and order at the polling station, smooth running of polling, dispute management, security of unissued material unnecessarily burden the presiding officers.

He pleads that at polling stations where turnout is more than 50pc, thumb verification from voter list through Nadra should be done before the announcement of the result.

He says the ECP be directed to divide the number of polling booths according to the number of voters not exceeding 200 per booth. Responsibility of law and order and conduct of polling be segregated and female staff be appointed within the 15km radius from their residence, he asks the court.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2018