An Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) official has expressed its reservations about conducting polls and has said that the general elections could not be held within three months.
The official of the electoral body has cited legal complications and procedural challenges for the reservations expressed.
A local media report citing the ECP official has said that the ECP needed at least six months to prepare for the general elections because of the delimitation of the constituencies. Furthermore, after the 26th amendment, the increase in seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the process of bringing district- and constituency-wise electoral rolls in conformity were other challenges, the report revealed. Citing these issues, the ECP official has stated that it was not possible to hold elections right away.
According to the report, the administration material including ballot papers was not prepared, while appointment and training of polling staff was to be carried out.
The official stated that according to the law, the ballot papers which are to be used, should have watermarks and they are not available in the country and have to be imported
Other than these delays, scrutiny of financial and technical quotations was another task that would take months, the news report cited the ECP official as saying.
Moreover, almost two million stamp pads would be required for around 100,000 polling stations, the report added.
Additionally, as per the ECP official, the issue of using electronic voting machines was yet to be sorted out, which was another hinderance to holding elections.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan, has released a statement through its official Twitter handle, saying that it had not issued any statement regarding the election.
