Watermarked ballot papers to be used in 2018 elections: ECP

ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday decided to use watermarked ballot papers in the upcoming General Elections 2018 and asked the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (PSPC) Karachi to make arrangements for the purchase of watermarked papers.

The decision was made in a meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza and was attended by the managing directors of Printing Corporation Press Pakistan, PSPC Karachi, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) and officials from finance division, cabinet division and postal services division.

The meeting also decided that in order to ensure transparency in general elections, ECP will use indelible ink marker rather using indelible ink while PCSIR Islamabad would certify that the markers have all the features and ingredients that indelible ink could have and that they have similar using time as that of indelible ink.

The meeting was informed that the decision of purchasing indelible markers was made to remove complications in its supply and its use on voters.

Earlier, the meeting received a briefing on the printing of ballot papers and use of indelible marker in place of indelible ink.