ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is gearing up for the upcoming polls and plans to enlist nearly 1 million officers to fill essential roles for the elections.
According to preliminary estimates, there will be approximately 700,000 polling staff members, and the count may increase to around 900,000 to one million, including security personnel. The final figures will be confirmed once the Election Schedule is announced, media reports said.
A list of presiding officers, assistant presiding officers, and polling crew has been compiled, with a total of 10,7361 officers would be deployed nationwide.
In Punjab, about 54,706 presiding officers, 310,968 assistant presiding officers, and 160,445 polling staff would perform election duties. In the province, a total of 526,123 officers will be appointed.
In Sindh, 20,315 presiding officers, 162,523 assistant presiding officers, and 81,262 polling staff will perform duties, bringing the total number in the province to 264,100.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 16,525 presiding officers, 100,085 assistant presiding officers, and 50,045 polling staff will perform duty, making the total number of officers 166,655.
In Balochistan, a combined number of 50,491 officers will be deployed, including 5,266 presiding officers, 30,150 assistant presiding officers and 15,075 polling staff.
ECP Asks Voters to Register Votes
Moreover, The ECP has asked all eligible voters to get themselves registered as the process for registration of new voters, correction of their details, and transfer of votes will close on Wednesday.
According to the ECP official, the facilitation desks operated by the electoral watchdog in Islamabad and its district-level offices are actively engaged in accomplishing this assignment.
He urged people to register or rectify discrepancies in the voter lists to ensure their alignment with their Computerized National Identity Cards data by 25 October 2023.
The ECP invoked the Elections Act, 2017 to freeze the voter lists on 20 July 2023.
In order to simplify the process for the public, the lists were then unfrozen from 28 September to 25 October 2023, allowing all eligible voters to either register, withdraw, or rectify their information.
