LAHORE, July 17: The Election Commission of Pakistan proposes to substantially raise the number of polling stations for the Oct 10 general election to help voters.

According to official sources, the EC planned to set up 80,000 polling stations instead of 34,000 set up for the 1997 elections.

The number of polling stations is being increased because of the rise in the number of voters. They will have more than 200,000 booths.

It is proposed that one polling booth should be available for 400 to 500 people.

At the time of the 1997 elections a voter’s age was 21 which has now been brought down to 18 years and, as a result, millions of new voters have been enrolled.

Since the elections to the national and provincial assemblies and the Senate were to be held the same day, it was imperative for the EC to raise the number of polling stations, the sources said.

At present, the EC officials are preparing lists of polling stations and looking for suitable buildings where polling stations could be set up.

When asked whether the EC also planned to seek army’s assistance to ensure that the elections were held peacefully, the sources said no decision had so far been taken in this regard.