The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday released the election schedule for the first phase of local government (LG) elections in Sindh.
The first phase covers a total of 14 districts of Sukkur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad and Mirpurkhas divisions with elections due on June 26 from 8:00am to 5:00pm and results on June 30. The following is the timeline for the entire exercise – April 28: Public notice inviting nomination papers to be issued to returning officers (RO); May 10-13: Filing of nomination papers with ROs by candidates; May 14: Publication of names of nominated candidates; May 16-18: Scrutiny of nomination papers by ROs; May 19-21: Filing of appeals against the decision of ROs; May 23-25: Deciding of appeals by the appellate authority; May 26: Publication of revised list of candidates; May 27: Last date for withdrawal and publication of revised candidate list; May 28: Allotment of symbols to contesting candidates.
June 26 will be the polling day while results would be consolidated on June 30. In further guidelines to ensure the elections are held fairly and honestly and to ensure that corrupt practices are prevented, the ECP barred executive authorities from announcing development projects or using state resources to influence polls in favor of a candidate.
It warned that any government official who misused their position to influence the elections would be proceeded against under the law. The ECP also barred transfers and postings of government officers or granting them leaves in divisions for which the election schedule had been issued without the commission’s prior approval.
