ECP says fully prepared to hold elections in organised manner

• Asks media, others to avoid hate speech 

• Launches application for election results

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday said that their institution is logistically fully prepared to hold the upcoming general election on July 25 in a smooth and an organised manner.

The holding of elections which was considered to be a biggest logistic activity in the country required a comprehensive strategy to deal all matters related with the logistic support, ECP’s Spokesperson Altaf Khan said.

He informed that it was estimated that the commission required 210 million of total ballot papers for the total constituencies of national and provincial assemblies.

The commission had prepared a plan for dispatch of ballot papers to around 85,000 polling stations across the country well before the polling

The ballot papers would be dispatched to far-flung areas of Balochistan through aeroplanes. The paper being used for ballots carrying all security features was imported from abroad.

The process of transportation of ballot paper from Karachi is underway through C-130 planes, Pakistan International Airlines and

Pakistan Army had been providing security to the Printing Corporation of Pakistan and other places during printing of the ballot papers.

ECP ASKS TO AVOID HATE SPEECH: 

The election commission asked media to discourage all forms of hate speech that can be interpreted as incitement to violence or has the effect of promoting public disorder.

The ECP issued a 15 point code for media for the coverage of general election and asked all media houses to follow professional standards and strive for accuracy, balance and impartiality as far as possible.

The election body constituted a Complain Committee which is to be headed by ECP Additional Director General Public Relations (ADGPR) and comprise representatives from different media-related organisations including Pakistan Television (PTV), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) and others.

During the election period all media have a duty to ensure that the public are properly informed about relevant electoral matters such as political parties, candidates, campaign issues and voting processes, the press release issued by ECP said.

MOBILE APP TO BE USED FOR ELECTION RESULTS:

The ECP further announced to launch an Android mobile application called “Results Transmission System” (RTS) for the release of results of general elections 2018.

ECP stated the commission had successfully tested the RTS through a pilot project conducted in Peshawar’s NA-4 and Karachi’s PS-114 by-elections last year where the presiding officers (PO) sent the polling results with the picture of FORM XIV by using the specialised mobile application which transmitted data to the ECP server in real-time.

The ECP collaborated with the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and mobile phone operators in the country to come up with RTS which is said to be aimed at enhancing transparency in election results as the mobile app automatically stamps results with time and location coordinates.

In addition, the commission has also decided to give an additional Rs1,000 each to all such POs who will assist in transferring the election results to ECP through the RTS.

The ECP believes that this step would encourage POs serving on 85,000 polling stations across the country to use their own cell phones for the RTS.

Earlier, there was a proposal to acquire 100,000 smartphones for this project but subsequently the idea was dropped because of financial constraints. The commission is also imparting training to around 200,000 officials with technical assistance by NADRA.

According to Section 13 of the Election Act, 2017, the commission shall establish a transparent results management system for expeditious counting, tabulation, compilation, transmission, dissemination and publication of results in the official gazette and on the commission’s website.