Khyber Pakhtunkhwa braces for local body elections tomorrow

• Over 8.5m registered voters expected to exercise right to vote in 18 districts of KP.
• Out of total 8,057,974 registered voters, 4,489,771 are male and 3,567,703 female.
• ECP has set up 6,176 polling stations.

PESHAWAR: Local body elections are set to take place tomorrow (Thursday) across 18 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Abbottabad, Mansehra, Swat, and Malakand.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has completed all arrangements to hold a free, transparent and peaceful election for the second phase of the local bodies polls.

Over eight million registered voters are expected to exercise their right to vote in these districts on Thursday, according to the Provincial Election Commission.

A total of 8,057,974 registered voters (male — 4,489,771 and female —3,567,703) are all set to elect mayors and chairmen in 65 tehsils and candidates for different seats of 1,830 village and neighbourhood councils.

The local bodies' elections in the second phase are being held in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Upper and Lower Kohistan, Kolai-Palas, Swat, Malakand, Shangla, Lower and Upper Dir, Upper and Lower Chitral, Kurram, Orakzai, and North and South Waziristan districts.

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As many as 561 candidates are in the run for 65 tehsil seats, 12,980 for general seats, 2,668 for women seats, 6,451 for farmers/labourers seats, 5,213 for youth seats and 57 minorities seats.

Similarly, 351 candidates have been elected unopposed on general seats, 533 candidates on women seats, 233 youth seats, 50 minorities seats and 151 labourers/farmers seats.

The ECP has set up 6,176 polling stations, including 1,246 for males, 1,164 for females and 3,766 combined for the facilitation of voters.

Similarly, 16,509 polling booths, including 9,218 for males and 7,291 for females are also established to facilitate voters including young and female voters.

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Out of these polling stations, 1,646 are declared most sensitive while 2,326 are sensitive therefore elaborate security arrangements are made.

Foolproof security arrangements have been made for the second phase of local bodies elections.

Meanwhile, the voters are strictly prohibited to carry arms and ammunition inside polling stations.

The most sensitive polling stations would be monitored through CCTV cameras.

The Election Commission has arranged a series of awareness workshops with the assistance of press clubs and media to mobilise voters for local government elections.

The election campaign would formally come to an end at midnight today (12am) after which no candidate would be allowed to address public meetings or hold rallies.

Under the supervision of Deputy Director Local Government Elections, Muhammad Nasir Khan and Assistant Director Mustafa Jalal, a control room has been set up at the office of Provincial Election Commissioner Peshawar for quick resolution of election-related complaints.