PESHAWAR: The provincial election commissioner, Shamshad Khan, here on Tuesday said that 2,527 candidates were in the run for general elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for which all arrangements were finalised.

Talking to journalists, he said that 1,814 candidates were contesting elections for 113 seats of provincial assembly and 713 were in the run for 44 seats of National Assembly in the province. Elections for two provincial assembly seats and one National Assembly seat have been postponed due to deaths of candidates.

Mr Khan said that 21.928 million people would exercise their right to vote on Thursday. Of total registered voters, 11.944 million were men and 8.373 million were women in the province, he said. ECP has established 15,696 polling stations across the province. Of these, 4,810 for men, 4,287 for women and 6,600 are combined polling stations.

He said that 4,178 polling stations were declared the most sensitive and 5,925 sensitive. He added army and police would be deployed at such polling station to ensure security on the polling day. He said that more than 81,000 polling staffers would perform duty in the election process. He said that 45.440 million ballot papers were printed.

15,696 polling stations set up in the province; no formal duty plan issued in DI Khan

“Presiding officers will declare results of polling on Form-45,” said Mr Khan. He added that the EMS system would work online as well as offline. He urged people to come out of their homes on the polling day and play their role in the country’s future. He said that special arrangements were made in the snow-covered areas of the province.

In Charsadda, all preparations for the February 8 general elections have been finalised and polling material will be handed over to presiding officers at Abdul Wali Khan Sports Complex on Wednesday.

Deputy Commissioner Adnan Farid Afridi told journalists that arrangements were made to ensure free and transparent elections for two national and five provincial assembly seats in the district in peaceful manner.

He said that CCTV cameras were installed at the most sensitive polling stations. He said that more than 5,000 police personnel were deployed at 746 polling stations across the district. He added army would perform duty as quick response force.

Meanwhile, a meeting was held under with DPO Nazir Khan in the chair to review security arrangements for elections. The meeting was also attended by DC Adnan Farid Khan, SDPOs, SHOs and other officials.

The DPO said that police personnel on security duty at polling stations should not use mobile phones. He directed them to protect life, property and honour of people. He ordered them to keep watch on the movement of suspected people and perform duty with honesty, courage, impartiality and zeal.

He directed police to ensure compliance with the code of conduct issued by ECP, adhere to the time limit, protect election staff and material on the polling day and adopt a polite attitude towards people.

There are 1066,668 registered voters in the district. Of them, 586,349 are men and 480,319 are women. ECP has set up 389 male, 305 female and 52 combined polling stations in the district.

In Dera Ismail Khan, complete plan for election duties at polling stations could not be released formally on Tuesday.

General elections are going to be held across the country on February 8 but duty plan for the polls in Dera Ismail Khan has not been issued formally.

Last night, duty letters were sent in PDF files to government officials including teachers to find out their names and then get it printed. In the list, the name of a teacher was different and the post below his name was given to another teacher while the mobile phone number written there was of a third teacher.

However, ECP officials said that such issues could be resolved through mutual understanding. The government employees have not received postal ballots so far.

Sources told this scribe that Class-IV employees including sweepers, peons, laboratory attendants and watchmen were appointed as presiding, assistant and polling officers.

Azizullah Khan, provincial president of All Primary Teachers Association, said in a statement that women teachers should be deployed in their nearby constituencies for election duty.

“We will perform this duty in a very good and dignified manner but according to our information, teachers, especially female teachers, have been deployed in far-off areas. It is difficult for female teachers to perform duty in such areas,” he said.

He said that teachers should be given the option to exchange the places of duty with each other.

This scribe made several attempts to get version of relevant officials in this regard but could not succeed.

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.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2024