General Elections 2018: Votes to be cast on watermarked ballot papers

• ECP fixes April 24 as deadline for reviewing electoral rolls

For the upcoming general elections, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to use watermarked ballot papers, for which the paper would be purchased from France,  reported a local media outlet on Sunday.

According to reports, the special paper will be provided in June 2018 after which the printing process will start.

Sources said that the ECP has paid an advance amount for the purchase, with the printing process costing over Rs610 million. With the total cost of purchasing, the ballot papers will be over Rs1 billion.

The printing press corporation will be given Rs150 million while the postal printing will be provided Rs110 million.

Meanwhile, the ECP has also fixed April 24 as the deadline for reviewing electoral rolls, whereby entry, transfer and cancellation of votes are allowed until the deadline. People can get details of their votes by sending an SMS with their Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) number to 8300.

They can obtain and submit form 15 for entry and transfer of vote, form 16 for cancellation and form 17 for correction of documents from their respective district display centres.

The details of district display centres can also be checked on ECP’s website.