ECP extends deadline for voter registration, transfer

KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has extended the deadline for voter registration, correction and transfer by July 20, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The election commission’s spokesperson said that the nationals can acquire their details by sending their computerised national identity card (CNIC) numbers via SMS to 8300.

It added that the individuals can register their votes on a permanent or temporary residence.

The commission directed to use Form No 21 for the registration or transfer of the vote. It added that Form No 22 will be used for filing a complaint or cancellation of vote and Form No 23 will be used for the correction of the records.

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The spokesperson said that the forms can be received from any district election commissioner’s office.

Earlier in the month, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) continued its preparations for the general elections and decided to conduct strict scrutiny of the returning officers (ROs).

The ECP expanded the scope of scrutiny of the ROs and sought informal reports from the concerned institutions and officers. The commission completed compilation of lists of the ROs for the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies.

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The scrutiny process of the ROs for the National Assembly (NA), Sindh and Balochistan assemblies is underway. The commission will depute the ROs for completing the scrutiny process which could delay the deputations, sources said.

As per the law, the commission is bound to deputy ROs two months before announcing the schedule of the general elections. The ECP decided to expedite the deputation of the District Returning Officers (DROs) and Returning Officers (ROs).

Separate ROs will be deputed in NA and provincial assemblies during the general polls. The ROs will prepare the polling schemes for concerned constituencies after their deputations.

For general polls, ROs will be appointed in 859 constituencies.

Moreover, the election commission commenced the training sessions of the lead trainers ahead of the general elections. ECP sources told ARY News that the lead trainers will attend three-day training sessions.