ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has sent a draft local government election schedule to the Punjab chief secretary for consultation, proposing Dec 14 as the polling date.

Additional Director General (Local Gove­rn­ment Elections) Chaudhry Nadeem Qasim, on behalf of the commission, forwarded the draft programme and sought the provincial government’s views on the proposed timeline. The final election schedule will be notified after ECP’s approval.

Under the draft progra­mme, nomination papers will be filed from Oct 27 to 30, while scrutiny will be conducted from Nov 2 to 5. Appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers can be filed from Nov 7 to 11 and will be decided by the relevant election tribunals between Nov 12 and 16. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is Nov 18. The final list of candidates will be displayed on Nov 19, while election symbols will be allotted on Nov 20. Pol­ling is proposed to be held on Dec 14, with returning officers scheduled to ann­ounce the results by Dec 17.

The last local governm­ent elections in Punjab were held in phases betw­een October and December 2015, and elected councils assumed office in 2017 after indirect elections for mayors and chairpersons. Since then, local body polls in Punjab have experienced repeated delays.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2026