PESHAWAR: Polling for the first phase of local bodies elections in 17 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is underway.
Polling began at 8 in the morning, will continue till 5 pm without any break. The districts where polling is underway included Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Khyber, Mohmand, Mardan, Swabi, Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, DI Khan, Tank, Haripur, Buner, and Bajaur. The polls in the rest of the province will be held in January in the second phase.
Polling for DI Khan mayor city council was deferred after ANP candidate Mohammad Umar Khitab was assassinated in an attack on Saturday.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, around 12.66 million voters are registered across the 17 districts, with 7.01 million male voters and 5.6 million female voters. Around 9,223 polling stations and 28,892 polling booths have been set up, out of which 4,188 polling stations have been declared sensitive and 2,507 most sensitive. According to statistics, 2587 candidates are taking part in the KP elections for general councilor seats in Peshawar.
Meanwhile, 19,285 candidates are contesting for the seats of general councillors at 2,359 village councils and neighbourhood councils (VCNCs) while the number of women candidates is 3,870 women seats for the same number of VCNCs. Similarly, 7,428 candidates are running for peasant/worker seats, 6,011 for youth, and 293 for the minority. Besides, 689 candidates are contesting for the seats of mayor and tehsil chairman.
As many as 876 women councillors have already been elected unopposed in different village and neighbourhood councils across the province. A large number of minority councillors have been elected unopposed. Strict security arrangements have been made in this regard. 77,000 policemen and law-enforcement personnel have been deployed outside polling stations and booths for the security.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has established a control room in ECP’s Peshawar office to receive polling day complaints.
