RAWALPINDI: An Election Monitoring and Control Centre (EMCC) has been established at Sports Complex, Liaquat Bagh, on the directives of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) with the latest equipment to monitor the election process and sensitive polling stations in six national and 13 provincial assemblies seats of the district.

Under the election monitoring strategy, monitoring centres had been made functional at the district level so the teams would be able to take legal action on the spot for any violations of the code of conduct during the elections. The entire monitoring system aims to ensure a fair and transparent electoral process.

For the 2024 elections, the election watchdog asked the district administration to monitor the sensitive polling through CCTV cameras and at least 550 sensitive polling stations had been connected with this control centre.

The election in six National Assembly and 13 provincial assembly constituencies in the district will be monitored through the control room. A team has also been deputed to check the media reports and will give information to the relevant department about violations of the code of conduct.

Apart from this, computerised data is also available in the centre where the monitoring teams will check the polling stations to get data on the voters, polling staff, and police officials deputed at the polling stations.

Focal persons of the Pakistan Army, the district administration, Rawalpindi police, Rescue 1122, the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco), the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and other civic bodies’ teams will be present at the control room round the clock.

In case a cellular network was not available in some areas, the staff would use a landline phone to remain in touch with the staff of the polling stations, which had been connected with landline PTCL numbers.

The control room will maintain communication with relevant personnel and stakeholders, including the returning officers and district returning officers. Individuals can register complaints related to the general elections with the EMCC Centre staff.

According to ECP data, there are a total of 3,307,083 voters in the district, including 1,703,511 male voters and 1,603,572 female voters.

As many as 2,559 polling stations had been established in the district, including 663 combined polling stations. There are 938 polling stations for women and 950 for men. More than 24,000 government officials from 84 government departments will perform duties on polling day.

Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema, who is also the district returning officer in Rawalpindi, also visited the central control centre.

He said that the election in the constituencies of Rawalpindi district would be monitored through the control room. “The purpose of monitoring is to maintain the atmosphere of peace and order at the polling stations and to make the election fair and transparent,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2024