No compromise on secrecy of vote: EC Secretary
ECP Secretary Babar Yaqub visited the Parliament House.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Babar Yaqub, the Secretary of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), on Saturday morning visited the Parliament House to review arrangements for Senate elections 2018.
Speaking to media, Babar Yaqub said that he has received several complaints that voters are sneaking out ballot papers in their pockets. He said the returning officers have been strictly ordered to counter such activities.
There will be no compromise on the secrecy of vote, he added.
The ECP rules dictate that voting on the day of the elections should be done through a secret ballot. Cellphones and other electronic devices are also not allowed into the provincial assembly after commencement of the voting process.
At the National Assembly hall, declared polling station for the Senate elections, the polling started at 9 a.m. with Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq being the first in the line to cast his vote followed by Minister for Defense Production Rana Tanveer and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmad.
In Lahore, provincial election commissioner Sharifullah conducted the polling process as Returning Officer.
In Sindh Assembly, two polling booths were established in the assembly to facilitate members of the assembly who cast their votes to elect 12 senators.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, elections were being held on 11 seats. These included seven general seats and two seats each reserved for women and technocrats. 13 candidates were in the run for general seats. Similarly, eight candidates contested election on women seat and five on technocrat seats.
In Balochistan, 23 candidates were in the run for 11 seats of Senate.
Polling concluded at 04:00pm and continued without any break.
