Electoral Administration

 Elections are administered by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The legal status, composition, main functions and powers of the ECP are regulated by Articles 213-221 of the Constitution (as amended), the Election Commission Order (2002), different sections of the Representation of the People Act (1976) and the Delimitation of the Constituencies Act (1974). The ECP has extensive responsibilities and powers. As well as managing polling and the results process, it is also mandated to conduct voter and candidate registration, and the delimitation of consistencies. The election administration is a separate branch of the public administration.

The ECP is a five member permanent body chaired by a Chief Election Commissioner who is appointed by the President. The other four Members are High Court judges, one from each province, who are appointed by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice of the Provincial High Court and the Chief Election Commissioner. A sixth Member will stand to be appointed when the Islamabad High Court, created by an amendment to the Constitution in December 2007, is established.

The ECP Secretariat is the executive branch of the Commission. The ECP has permanent subordinate structures at provincial and district level. The ECP has four provincial offices, each headed by a Provincial Election Commissioner (PEC). It also has 125 District Offices, headed by District Election Officers (DEOs).

All the ECP’s temporary staff are appointed from civil servants working for the federal, provincial and local governments as well as institutions controlled by the state and local authorities. The ECP also has the power to order all executive authorities on federal, provincial and local levels to assist the ECP and may requisition property.

For an election, the ECP appoints District Returning Officers (DROs), Returning Officers (ROs), Assistant Returning Officers (AROs), generally from judicial ranks. Presiding Officers (PrOs), Assistant Presiding Officers (APOs) and Polling Officers (POs) are appointed for the election day period.

The Final Elecoral Roll (FER) which will be used for 18 February elections is made up of Electoral Roll 07 (result of house-to-house enumeration process conducted in 2006) and Supplemental List (names from 2002 electoral roll database which were not included in the Electoral Roll 07). According to the ECP Polling Schedule for General Elections 2007 - 2008 there are 80,910,318 registrants on the FER.

In order to cast the vote on election day a person must be registered in the FER and must present either National Identity Card (NIC) or Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC). As a safeguard against double voting voters will be marked with indelible ink when they are issued with ballot papers. There will be 64,176 polling stations.

Compilation of preliminary results by the Returning Officers in each constituency will take place during election night as the Statements of the Count are delivered by Presiding Officers from their respective polling stations. It is expected that preliminary unofficial results will be announced within 24 hours of completion of voting. For the official results the RO is required to give candidates and agents a notice in writing of the arrangements for the official consolidation of results, which should be held as soon as possible after the polling day. This process typically takes place within two or three days of election day. Two forms are used by Returning Officers for consolidation of official results at the constituency level, namely Form XVI (constituency results broken down by polling station) and Form XVII (summary of results in constituency). Only Form XVII is publicly displayed and given to candidates and their agents.

Web link – ECP ( www.ecp.gov.pk)

Electoral disputes: Appeals against a Returning Officers decision to accept or reject candidate nomination papers are heard by a Tribunal, comprised of High Court Judges appointed by the Chief Election Commissioner with the President’s approval. Election petitions relating to the result of an election are heard by an Election Tribunal appointed by the Chief Election Commissioner. Appeal against an Election Tribunal’s decision lies to the Supreme Court. There are no specifications on where other complaints should be submitted.

Support to National Elections in Pakistan (SNEP)

The Support to National Elections in Pakistan (SNEP) project was conceived after a Needs Assessment Mission conducted by United Nation Development Program (UNDP) on request of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).. A project design was agreed with the ECP, UNDP and supported by donors it focuses on improved electoral administration and management, better informed citizens about the electoral system particularly women and underprivileged, improved engagement of all partners and effective coordination, management and facilitation of electoral support.

Web link –SNEP ( www.snep.org.pk)