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Tuesday March 19, 2024

ECP to print millions of extra ballot papers

By Tariq Butt
May 24, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will need to print millions of extra ballot papers over and above the actual requirement to round off their number to the next hundred for every polling station.

As per the draft polling scheme announced by the ECP, as many as 86,436 polling stations will be set up for the upcoming elections, including 48,667 in Punjab and 18,647 in Sindh. In the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 14,655 polling stations will be established and 4,467 in Balochistan.

If an average of 70 supplementary ballots is printed to round off the figures at all these polling stations, more than six million additional ballots would be required. While calculating this figure, separate electoral rolls for the male and female voters will also have to be kept in view. However, the ECP would take the final decision about the total number of additional ballot papers.

The law allows the ECP to print extra ballot papers for the purpose of rounding off their number. The Section 71 of the Elections Act says the ECP will, pursuant to the finalization of the list of the polling stations, determine the constituency-wise requirement of ballot papers based on the formula that the number of per polling station will be rounded off to the next hundred.

Explaining, it said that rounding off to the next hundred means that if the total strength of voters at a polling station is 1,201 to 1,299, the requirement of ballot papers for it would be 1,300.

The printing of extra ballot papers for every parliamentary poll is a normal exercise to meet different situations. The ECP did so for the 2013 general elections that was scandalised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and made it part of his campaign to paint those polls as rigged.

The ECP got printed 11,725,728 extra ballot papers for the last parliamentary polls. The highest numbers of additional ballots were printed for the 1988 general elections. As many as 14,660,869 extra ballot papers were printed for the 1990 polls.

In 1993, only 3.52pc extra ballot papers were printed, which was the lowest as compared to all other elections. A total of 10,086,725 additional ballot papers were printed in 1997 and 11,059,310 ballots for 2002. For the 2008 polls, as many as 11,115,911 extra ballot papers were printed.

The law also says that the ECP will ensure that the ballots are printed by the printing presses of the Printing Corporation of Pakistan (PCP) or such other press which is owned and operated by any authority under the control of the federal or a provincial government as may be notified by the ECP for the purpose.

The ECP will ensure that adequate arrangements are made for the security of the presses during the printing of ballot papers and for the safe custody of printed ballot papers till delivery to the Returning Officer (RO). It will use special water-marked paper for printing of ballot papers.

The RO will provide each Presiding Officer (PO) with such number of ballot boxes as may be necessary. The ECP will approve the material and design of these boxes. Not more than one box will be used at a time for the purpose of the poll at any polling station, or where there are more than one polling booths at a polling station at any polling booth.

Before the time fixed for the commencement of the poll, the PO will ensure that every ballot box to be used is empty; show the empty box to the contesting candidates and their election agents or polling agents whoever may be present, and record their statements in this behalf in the prescribed form and obtain their signatures on the form; after the box has been shown to be empty, close and seal it with his own seal and with the seal of such of the candidates, or their election agents or polling agents as may be present and may desire to put their own seals on it; and place the ballot box so as to be conveniently accessible to the voters, and at the same time within his view and within the view of such candidates or their election agents or polling agents as may be present.

If one ballot box is full or cannot further be used for receiving ballot papers, the PO will seal it with his own seal and with the seals of the candidates or their polling agents who may wish to seal it and keep it in a secure place in the polling station and use another ballot box.