Around 1,149 candidates of chairman and vice chairman (joint) and 5,902 for the general member seats will contest local bodies elections in 274 union councils in Lahore today
A total of 1,343 aspirants filed their nomination papers for the slots of chairman and vice chairman. Of them, 190 withdrew their candidature, while four others have been elected unopposed.
As many as 18,000 policemen along with other personnel of law enforcement agencies will be deployed in the city to provide security on the polling day.
Additional police personnel will also be deployed at 890 sensitive polling stations while 7,000 policemen will perform duties at 3,332 polling stations.
About 351 teams of the Quick Response Force (QRF) and two army battalions will patrol the city throughout the day.
District Returning Officers (DROs), Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) have already been appointed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
According to the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance 2015, a union council shall have a directly elected chairman and a vice-chairman as joint candidates, and six councillors on general seats one each from a ward. These members can contest polls either on party tickets or as independent candidates.
The electorates will only vote for the panel of a chairman and one general councillor from their respective wards. Once elected, the general members will elect two female members, one worker, a youth and a non-Muslim member for their wards.
Of the 3,269 polling stations in the provincial capital, not a single polling station is in the normal category while 839 have been declared highly sensitive and 2,430 have been declared sensitive.
Polling for the second phase will be held on November 19 in the districts of Khanewal, Sahiwal, Toba Tek Singh, Chiniot, Sargodha, Mianwali, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Hafizabad, M.B.Din, Attock and Jhelum. The third phase will be held on December 5 and polling in the districts of Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bhawalpur, Rajan Pur, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan, Rawalpindi, Muzaffar Garh, Narowal, Jhang and Khushab.
