Voters will now be able to check their polling station by sending their national identity card (NIC) number to 8300, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced on Wednesday.

Although the 8300 messaging service has been active for some time, it only provided information on the electoral area. When the ECP is done updating its database "by today or tomorrow", the reply from 8300 will also provide details of the polling stations, an ECP spokesperson said.

The service will considerably reduce the effort required by voters to find their respective polling stations and simplify an otherwise complicated procedure.

ECP to begin activating RTS

The commission also informed that National Database Regulatory Authority (Nadra) officials will begin activating the Result Transmission System (RTS) from today.

The RTS software will be installed in the smartphones of all presiding officers (PO) who will be able to transmit Form 45 (containing tabulated results of the polling station) via their phone to the ECP on the election day.

For POs without smartphones, the RTS software will be involved in smartphones of any of their election staff.

The procedure of linking RTS software with the central database will be completed by July 21, ECP said.