ECP plans special security measures for highly sensitive polling stations

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has planned special security measures for 17,007 ‘sensitive’ and ‘highly sensitive’ polling stations.

The Commission will ensure security of voters for having better turnout and for this security plan has been prepared. According to an ECP official, at least 5,878 of the polling stations have been declared as highly sensitive in the country.

The official said total 85,307 polling stations, including 23,424 male, 21,707 female, 40,133 combined and 43 improvised ones, would be set up in all the four provinces, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Federal Capital to ensure better turnout on the polling day.

He said 47,813 polling stations would be set up in Punjab, 17,747 in Sindh, 12,634 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4,420 in Balochistan, 797 in the Federal Capital and 1,896 in FATA.

The official said some 360 male, 360 female and 77 combined polling stations would be established in the Federal Capital, 13,351 male, 12,716 female and 21,746 combined ones in Punjab and 467 male, 359 female and 1,070 combined ones in FATA. Likewise, 1,252 male, 1073 female, 2,052 combined and 43 improvised polling stations would be set up in Balochistan, 4,128 male, 3,600 female and 4,906 combined ones in KP, and 3,866 male, 3,599 female and 10,288 combined ones in Sindh, the official told.

The ECP, he said had already issued its final polling scheme for national and provincial assemblies’ constituencies for the conduct of general election 2018 in all the provinces and the Federal Capital.

He said the Commission had placed all the details regarding final polling scheme on its official web portal for the voters’ facilitation by ensuring the compliance with basic fundamental right under the Constitution related to the right to information.

The official said the polling scheme consisted of name of constituency, name of polling station, name of electoral area, census block code, serial number of voters on the electoral roll in case electoral area is bifurcated, number of voters assigned to a polling station, including male, female and total number of polling booths allotted to a constituency.