- ECP decides to choose returning officers from bureaucracy for future polls after judiciary shows reluctance in releasing judges for the job
- Commission will also ask govt to legislate for introduction of biometric system
- PCSIR officials say ECP was unaware of validity limit of magnetic ink; ink packets opened at 8am had expired by 2pm
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday decided to acquire services of bureaucrats to service as returning officer (ROs) in next elections instead of seeking help from the judiciary.
A meeting of the ECP chaired by the acting chief election commissioner (CEC) decided that at least 1,500 ROs would be deployed in the next elections which would be picked from bureaucracy.
The meeting also decided that the government would be asked to enact legislation for introduction of biometric system in the country.
Sources said that the decision was taken following the judiciary’s refusal to provide its staff for the next general elections.
ECP officials were unaware of magnetic ink expiry time: PCSIR
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) has said that Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials were unaware of expiry limit of the magnetic ink used in last year’s general elections, adding that the ECP staff also lacked training in use of the ink.
According to a news channel, PCSIR officials have revealed that the magnetic ink’s validity time was just four to six hours and the packets that were opened at 8am had already expired by 2pm. Magnetic ink did not remain useful after getting expired. ECP officials were unaware of the expiry limit of the ink, according to PCSIR officials.
PCSIR has also revealed that polling staff was not trained to use magnetic ink and the Returning Officers (ROs) did not know the difference between magnetic and common inks. Two packets of magnetic and common ink were sent to all polling stations, according to the news channel.
