Pakistan: 50 pc polling stations declared 'sensitive' or 'most sensitive' ahead of polls
Jan 29, 2024
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 29 : The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has declared around 50 per cent of polling stations in the country as "sensitive" or "most sensitive", ARY News reported on Monday citing sources.
It reported citing ECP sources, that overall 90,675 polling stations have been set up across the country for the upcoming general elections, slated for Feb 8.
In addition to this, 46,065 polling stations have been declared as 'sensitive' or 'most sensitive' across the country.
The ECP has declared 27,628 polling stations as sensitive and 18,437 as most sensitive, sources said.
In Punjab, 12,580 polling stations have been pronounced 'sensitive' and 6,040 as 'most sensitive' and 32,324 poll stations as normal. In Sindh 6,545 polling stations have been declared 'sensitive' and 6,524 stations as 'most sensitive'.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 6,166 polling stations have been declared 'sensitive' and 4,143 polling stations as 'most sensitive'. In Balochistan, a total of 961 polling stations have been declared normal, while 2,337 as 'sensitive and 1,730 polling stations as 'most sensitive', according to ARY News.
The ECP's election plan delineates the distribution of polling stations across all four provinces and the federal capital. The polling stations have been categorized as normal, sensitive, and highly sensitive based on the security situation and the history of electoral violence.
Meanwhile, out of 90,675 polling stations that would be established across the country, 25,320 polling stations are designated for men while 23,952 are for women.
Earlier on Saturday, the ECP claimed that it had "successfully" conducted a mock exercise of the Election Management System (EMS) on an experimental basis, yielding useful and encouraging results.
However, connectivity challenges at certain points during the exercise caused issues in transmitting results to some presiding officers, ARY News reported.
