LG polls: ECP issues notice to Sindh govt over code violation

KARACHI: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued a notice to the Sindh government over code violation during local government (LG) polls in Karachi and Hyderabad, ARY News reported on Sunday.

According to an ECP spokesperson, the election commission has sent a notice to the ruling party of Sindh through the Chief Secretary for violating the code of conduct during LG polls in Karachi and Hyderabad.

As per details, the provincial government violate the code of conduct by running advertisement campaigns for their candidates during the polling process.

It is pertinent to mention here that the counting of votes is underway after the conclusion of the second phase of LG polls in 16 districts.

Meanwhile, the polling process started late in various districts including Karachi, while there are reports of low voter turnout. During the polling, several incidents of disputes and irregularities among political parties took place at different polling stations, on which action were also taken by the Election Commission.

Moreover, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had demanded an extension of two hours in the polling time from the ECP, but the election commission rejected the demand of the party.

Earlier in the day, polling is taking place in seven districts of Karachi and nine districts of the Hyderabad division. Strict security measures have been put in place to ensure fair and transparent elections in both divisions.

Nearly 8,000 polling stations have been declared ‘sensitive’ or ‘highly sensitive’ in 16 districts of Karachi and Hyderabad.

In Karachi, as many as 3,415 polling stations have been classified as sensitive, 1,496 as highly sensitive and 79 as normal.

Out of 2,674 polling stations in Hyde­rabad division, 1,270 are sensitive, 779 are highly sensitive and 625 are normal.