PESHAWAR: The police arrested the woman presiding officer of a polling station here on Saturday night along with her husband over the alleged rigging of the local body elections slated to be held today (Sunday).

The two were kept at the C Division Police Station, an official told Dawn.

The arrests were made shortly after the Provincial Election Commission removed the presiding officer and all other staff members of a women polling station in Gorgathri area.

In a statement, the PEC said all members of the polling station had been replaced and the ‘issue’ was being investigated. It, however, didn’t elaborate on the issue.

The PEC said the election material issued for that polling station was safe.

Local body elections to be held in 17 districts today

An official of the C Division Police Station told Dawn that political leaders were in contact with the police on the election rigging issue.

He, however, said the police had yet not registered an FIR.

Earlier, video clips went viral on social media showing unsealed ballot papers to be used at the polling station for Sunday’s local body elections.

The clips also showed political activists and polling staff members scuffling and screaming at each other.

Pakistan Peoples Party Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Women’s Wing president Senator Rubina Khalid told Dawn that her party’s activists caught a presiding officer at a polling station of the Neighbourhood Council No 33 stamping ballot papers.

She claimed that the presiding officer had illegally unsealed the election material.

In a statement, the opposition Awami National Party also alleged pre-poll rigging at polling stations in Neighborhood Council No 33 and 34 by the polling staff.

Deputy commissioner of Peshawar retired captain Khalid Mahmood didn’t respond to the mobile phone calls and messages sent by Dawn on the matter.

According to the ECP, over 12.6 million residents of 17 districts will vote in the local body elections today (Sunday).

The polls were due to be held in 2019 after the last local bodies completed their tenure in Aug 2019, but the government failed to hold them.

Of the voters registered in 17 districts, over seven million are men and 5.6 million women, show the ECP figures.

In the second phase, the local body elections will be held in the remaining districts on Jan 6.

On Saturday, the district returning officers handed over election materials to the respective presiding officers.

The districts, where elections will be held in the first phase, include Buner, Bajaur, Swabi, Peshawar, Nowshera, Kohat, Karak, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Tank, Haripur, Khyber, Mohmand, Mardan, Charsadda, Hangu and Lakki Marwat.

For the first time, the local body elections will take place in the erstwhile Fata’s Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur districts.

Of 37,576 candidates, 689 are contesting elections for the seats of mayor/chairman of tehsil councils, 19,285 for general seats of village councils and neighbourhood councils, 3,870 for women’s seats, 7,428 for peasant/worker seats, 6,011 for youths’, and 293 for the minority seats.

An official in the Election Commission of Pakistan told Dawn that 876 women candidates had been elected unopposed.

The ECP has set up 9,223 polling stations and declared 2,507 of them the most sensitive and 4,168 sensitive.

According to it, Peshawar has the highest number of sensitive polling stations in the province i.e. 860, while of the total of 1,248 polling stations, 165 were the most sensitive and 224 normal.

Nowshera district has the highest number of the most sensitive polling stations in the province i.e. 354. Of a total of 558 polling stations in the district, 148 are sensitive.

Charsadda district has most of the normal polling stations in the province i.e. 425. Of a total of 732 polling stations, 307 are sensitive.

The ECP identified 297 of a total of 354 polling stations in Khyber tribal district as sensitive. However, no polling station in Charsadda and Khyber districts are the most sensitive.

In Mohmand tribal district, 58 of a total of 195 polling stations are the most sensitive and 80 sensitive, while 579 of Mardan district’s 1,051 polling stations have been declared sensitive and 241 the most sensitive.

In Swabi district, out of a total of 762 polling stations, 335 have been declared sensitive and 175 the most sensitive, while of 487 polling stations in Kohat district, 71 are the most sensitive and 199 sensitive.

The ECP identified 193 polling stations as the most sensitive and 91 sensitive in Karak; 23 the most sensitive and 110 sensitive in Hangu; 208 most sensitive and 178 sensitive in Bannu; 122 the most sensitive and 163 sensitive in Lakki Marwat; 200 the most sensitive and 314 sensitive in Dera Ismail Khan; 60 the most sensitive and 45 sensitive in Tank; 278 the most sensitive and 219 sensitive in Haripur; 251 the most sensitive and 120 sensitive in Buner, and 110 the most sensitive and 143 sensitive in Bajaur.

The provincial government will deploy over 77,000 police personnel to guard polling stations. A total of 11,000 police personnel have been deployed in Peshawar only.

Our Haripur Correspondent adds: A total of 719,070 voters will elect chairmen and 1,083 members of three tehsil councils here today (Sunday).

According to official statistics, 592 polling stations have been set up in 180 village and neighbourhood councils for elections, while 3,500 police and FC personnel have been deployed at 97 most sensitive, 319 sensitive and 278 normal polling stations.

Our Bajaur Correspondent adds: A close contest is expected among seven candidates for the chairmanship of two tehsil councils in Bajaur tribal district today (Sunday).

For Khar council elections, Luqman Khan of the ruling PTI, Sahibzada Haroon Rasheed of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Sayed Sadiq Akbar of the Awami National Party, Haji Said Badshah of the JUI-F and Nawabzada Waheeduddin Khan of the PML-N are strong contenders.

Dr Khalilur Rahman of the PTI, Latif Jan of the JI and independent candidate Najeebullah Khan, who is the elder son of former governor Engineer Shaukatullah Khan, are strong candidates for the top Nawagai tehsil council office.

Our Lakki Marwat Correspondent adds: A total of 496,784 voters will participate in the local body elections in the district today (Sunday).

The ECP has set up 409 polling stations for the purpose.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2021