Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is all set to hold the second phase of Local Bodies Elections in 18 districts, which is scheduled to be held today (Thursday).

According to the details, the Local government (LG) elections in the remaining 65 tehsils of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 18 districts will be held today (Thursday) on 31st March.

Speaking a news conference here at press club on Thursday, Special Assistant to chief minister on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said that the government has completed all arrangements for the Election Day and foolproof security will be provided to that 8.57 million people exercising their right to vote in a peaceful environment.

He said compared to the first phase of election, extra security has been provided to women candidates adding if required Pakistan army personnel would also be deployed.

The Election Commission on Pakistan (ECP) has declared 1609 polling stations “most sensitive”, 2319 “sensitive” and 2069 normal ahead of the elections out of the 6,176 polling stations established for the polls.

The ECP data showed that 39554 candidates were vying for 12875 seats. A total of 651 candidates will contest for city mayor and tehsil chairman seats, 12,980 for general and neighbourhood councils, 2,668 for women seats, 6,451 for labour, 5,213 candidates for Kisan and youth seats and 57 have submitted nomination papers for religious minorities’ seats.

The election body has informed that a total of 1,318 candidates have been elected unopposed in 65 tehsils. Some 351 candidates have been elected unopposed on general seats, 533 on women seats, 151 on labour and Kisan seats, 233 on youth seats and 50 on minority seats in Village and Neighbourhood Councils.

The district administrations have also announced holiday for the schools in districts where the local government election would take place on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has finalized all arrangements to hold the second phase of local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to ECP, all polling material including ballet papers, polling bags and polling staff will reach their respective polling station today with full security.

The distribution of polling material will start at 8:00am on Thursday in all 18 districts while the polling material will be disbursed from the Returning Officers. Foolproof security measures have been adopted to maintain law and order during the polling process.

All presiding officers reached Wednesday evening to establish polling stations and polling booths. The elections will be held in 65 tehsils of 18 districts.

In these 18 districts, total registered voters are 80, 57,474 out of which 44, 89,771 voters are male while 35, 67,703 are female voters. Out of 6,176 polling stations, 1,246 are male and 1,164 are female polling stations while 3,766 are combined polling stations besides 11 improvised.

As many as 16,509 polling booths have been established out of which 9,218 are male and 7,291 are female polling booths. Chief Election Commissioner, Secretary ECP and Special Secretary will personally supervise the election process.

It is pertinent to mention here that the ECP had announced to conduct local government elections of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on March 31, issuing the revised schedule of phase two of the polls in the province. In the first phase, local government elections were held in 66 tehsils of 17 districts on December 19 in KP.

This story was first published in Business Recorder on March 31, 2022.