The process of ballot-printing for some of the constituencies had been halted because of the litigation. The information about this has been shared by an official from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
It is to be noted that, on December 22, the electoral watchdog has issued a revised poll schedule, providing details on the step-by-step procedures leading up to the poll day, as well as their dates. According to the schedule, the ECP was to issue its final allocation of the electoral symbols to the candidates on January 13, the final step before polling day on February 8.
Whereas, several days after the passage of the due date for the issuance of the symbols, the commission has yet to issue the final list of the candidates. It has also not amended the notification of December 15, which called for the publication of a revised list of candidates on January 12.
The ECP, on Tuesday had added in a statement that the election symbols were being changed via the various forums, and highlighted that as it had already ordered the printing of the ballot papers to the three printing corporations and the printing work had started a day earlier.
According to the reports, the ECP spokesperson, Syed Nadeem Haider, said that, “The final list be released in the next few days. The printing of the ballot papers for certain constituencies had indeed been put on halt under the circumstances.”
He mentioned that the attempts were being made to manage the things, but each passing day was compounding the problem, adding that these were the challenges being referred to in the earlier statement, where fears were expressed about polls in some constituencies having to be delayed.
Acknowledging that he ECP was n track and committed to holding the free and fair general elections, the official added that all the efforts are being made to solve the issue as soon as possible.
As per one of the another official, “Around 200 poll-related cases were pending before the courts, which had set off alarm bells at the commission, given the paucity of time to complete all the formalities. He said that the matter was being taken up with the registrars of the respective courts.
