ISLAMABAD: Announcing that the printing of ballot papers for upcoming general elections will be completed by Feb 2, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday said it has started dispatching ballot papers to respective districts by air and by road with the help of security personnel.

The ECP’s spokesman, Syed Nadeem Haider, in a statement said that preparations for Feb 8 general elections had entered the final phase. He said that printing of ballot papers under way at three government printing press institutions is satisfactorily.

“The printing work, which started on January 16 after the allotment of election symbols by respective returning officers (ROs), will be completed in the next 4 days i.e. by February 2,” he said.

The spokesman said that with the help of security agencies, returning officers and the district administration, the delivery of ballot papers has started to the four provinces.

Apart from this, he said that 8300 SMS service now provides guidelines to voters about their polling stations besides other information. “Voters will have to send their identity card number to 8300 to get their vote information,” he said.

The ECP spokesman asked voters to get details of their families’ votes on time to avoid any problem at the polling station on the polling day.

He said the ECP has so far completed training of 970,000 polling staff out of 976,000 required staff. The training of the remaining 6,000 polling personnel will be completed in the next four days, he said.

In a separate development, the ECP, taking notice of news circulating in some sections of the media about a group of ulema having allegedly issued a fatwa in Kohistan banning women from poll campaigning and voting, immediately sought a report from the District Monitoring Officer Kohistan Upper.

The officer clarified in his report that the news was not true.

The spokesman, however, warned that the ECP would not tolerate any attempt to prevent women from taking part in the poll process.

He said the Commission will take action under Section 9 of the Elections Act, if any woman was prevented from campaigning or voting in the constituency concerned and the poll process in that constituency may be declared null and void.

Meanwhile, the ECP has taken strong notice of clashes and firing incidents between two political parties in Karachi over the flag hoisting and snatching of postal ballots in Swabi district.

It sought reports from the chief secretary and IG concerned so that action can be taken aga­inst those involved in such incidents under the election laws.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2024

To find your constituency and location of your polling booth, SMS your NIC number (no spaces) to 8300. Once you know your constituency, visit the ECP website here for candidates.