ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday issued the final polling scheme for the Feb 8 general elections. Section 59(6) of the Elections Act 2017 requires the publication of the final list of polling stations of each constituency, at least 30 days before polling day, in the official gazette as well as the website of the ECP.

The ECP, however, had announced it would publish the polling scheme 15 days before polling day, another deadline that could not be met.

When contacted by Dawn, a senior ECP official agreed that there were other reasons behind the legal requirement of placing the polling scheme on ECP’s website 30 days before polling day, in addition to ensuring transparency in the processes leading to elections.

Number of polling stations lower than stipulated in the law, meaning not all voters may be able to cast ballots, even if polling time is extended

He said under the law, the ECP was also supposed to install or direct any government to install a surveillance camera in each polling booth of most sensitive polling stations to record poll proceedings, process of counting of votes and preparation of results by the presiding officer, besides taking other appropriate security measures.

The polling scheme issued after an inordinate delay also violates the law on majority of the constituencies, with the number of voters assigned to polling stations far exceeding the limit prescribed in the law.

Section 59(3) of the Elections Act reads “As far as practicable, not more than 1,200 voters shall be assigned to a polling station and not more than 300 voters shall be assigned to a polling booth, and reasons for any deviation shall be recorded in writing”.

The scheme outlines the distribution of polling stations across all four provinces and the federal capital, categorising them as normal, sensitive, or highly sensitive based on the security situation and electoral violence history. A total of 90,675 polling stations with 276,402 polling booths will be set up across Pakistan under the polling scheme for a total of 128 million voters.

Had the law been followed, the number of polling stations should have been over 107,000, with each having four polling booths. In other words, over 150,000 fewerpolling booths are being established then required under the law, making it almost impossible at various places for all present to vote, even if polling time is extended in case of a high turnout.

In Punjab, 50,944 polling stations will be established for the general elections, followed by 19,006 in Sindh,15,697 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and 5,028 in Balochistan.