How election results will be prepared?

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has introduced a new result compilation mechanism called Election Management System (EMS), developed by a private company, for the 2024 general elections set to take place tomorrow.

In the last elections 2018, the commission utilised the Result Transmission System (RTS) – an Android-based application developed by the NADRA for the prompt disbursement of results from polling stations to returning officers

However, the system famously crashed after the close of polling in 2018, bringing the entire process of result compilation and issuance to a standstill.

This year, the ECP introduced Election Management System (EMS) for result compilation and tabulation in the general elections 2024.

Talking to ARY News exclusively, Col (retd) Muhammad Saad Ali – the project director of EMS – said that the new system was equipped with special software, securely housed in the offices of 859 Returning Officers (RO), with the provision of four data entry operators, four laptops, and IT equipment.

Furthermore, he said the EMS was installed in the mobile phones of Presiding Officers (PO) who will capture an image of Form-45 and send it to the Returning Officer.

In case of network issue, Form-45 will automatically deliver to the RO once a signal is restored. The results will be compiled at the office of the returning officer.

If network gets disconnected, the software will seamlessly switch to an offline mode. Regarding connectivity, he mentioned the existence of a third toll apart from online and offline modes.

All is set for holding general elections in Pakistan, scheduled for February 8, 2024, with over 128 million male and female voters expected to exercise their voting rights.

According to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 5,121 candidates are in the race for the National Assembly seats, of which 4,807 are males and 312 females. Two transgenders are also contesting the polls.

For the four provincial assemblies of Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Balochistan, a total of 12,695 candidates are contesting for the polls, out of which 12,123 are males and 570 are women.

There are a total of 128,585,760 registered voters in the country, out of which Punjab has the most, 73, 207,896. Sindh comes second with 26,994,769 registered voters while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa third with 21,928,119 voters. Balochistan has 5,371,947 registered voters while Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has 1,083,029 voters.