The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has conducted a mock test of its Election Management System (EMS) to transmit and tabulate results, a spokesperson for the electoral watchdog said on Saturday.

“While the overall performance of the system was satisfactory as presiding officers sent the election results, some presiding officers faced challenges in sending the results due to connectivity issues,” he added.

According to the ECP spokesperson, the issues were being addressed on an immediate basis.

The mock test comes by the ECP as the country is less than two weeks away from the general elections scheduled for February 8.

As many as 859 offices of returning officers (ROs) established across the country participated in the exercise in which they successfully tested Fiber/DSL Connectivity, usage of EMS-Login and compilation and dispatching results, the spokesperson said.

It is pertinent to mention that the presiding officers will be required to submit the election result personally to the RO office in case he fails to dispatch the result through his mobile phone.

In December last year, the ECP admitted having faced minor hurdles in the transmission of information to the ROs through the EMS in far-flung areas.

However, the electoral watchdog insisted that the system has not failed as reports suggested a complete failure of the EMS.

“In the far-flung areas where the problems related to internet connectivity have been experienced, slight difficulties have been faced there in the transmission of the lists of the general polls’ contestants to the ROs by the ECP, provincial, regional and district election commissioners,” the ECP said in a statement.