Cantonment board elections today amid tight security

Rawalpindi : Under the security of police and rangers, polling for the elections of Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) and Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) will be held today (Sunday).

The polling will begin at 8:00 am and will conclude at 5:00 pm. Ballot boxes and other related items have been handed over to returning officers and polling officers here on Saturday.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has set up Complaint Centres for monitoring Cantonment Board election process here at all provincial headquarters and federal capital, Islamabad. The citizens can access the centre in Islamabad on telephone numbers 051-9204403 and 051-9204402.

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) have 10 seats each, however, the election will be held on 19 seats as polling has been postponed in one ward after the death of the only female candidate.

In the two cantonments, a total of 187 candidates of different political parties are in the race, 110 are contesting on nine seats of RCB and 77 candidates on 10 seats of the CCB. Tough contest will be expected between PML-N, PTI and PPP.

Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Syed Gulzar Hussain Shah and Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muhammad Ali have visited in different areas of garrison city to check final arrangements and security situation.

The RCB and CCB officials told ‘The News’ that 34 polling stations have been declared highly sensitive while 77 polling stations have been declared sensitive. All of the polling stations that have been declared sensitive will be controlled by the Rangers, the officials claimed.

All political parties have been allowed to set up camps outside polling stations to facilitate the candidates. All polling officers have been directed to ensure their presence at the polling stations on Saturday night. All returning officers, assistant returning officers and staff have been directed to report to the polling stations.

As part of strict security arrangements in Rawalpindi district around 4,000 police officials have been deputed for security purposes including Rangers besides volunteers who would perform their duties at the polling stations to prevent any untoward incident during the polling.

There are a total of 42 cantonment boards and 219 wards across the country. Karachi division has a maximum of 42 wards, Rawalpindi district has 37 wards and Lahore district has 20 wards. All other cantonment boards have 2 to 14 wards.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has nominated the highest number of 205 candidates across the country followed by 160 candidates by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and 155 candidates by the Pakistan People’s Party, while 499 independent candidates are also in the race.

The CCTV cameras have been installed in all sensitive polling stations in RCB and CCB. Experts are expecting a reasonable turn out in local government elections in RCB and CCB on Sunday (today).

There are 279,529 registered voters in RCB and 170,100 voters in CCB. There are 273 polling stations in RCB the break up is 133 polling stations for men and 127 polling stations for women, 13 polling stations joint. The numbers of polling booths for male and female voters are 694 and 358 respectively.

In CCB, there are 143 polling stations in which 73 are for men and 70 for women. There are 410 designated polling booths for men and 202 for women. The unofficial results will be announced the same day for each polling station while Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will issue the notification of victorious candidates on September 17.