Polling of votes for election ends peacefully in KP

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Like other provinces of Pakistan, polling of votes for the General Election 2024 was ended peacefully in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including merged tribal districts on Thursday.

The polling began at 8 a.m. and would continue till 5 p.m. without any break in all districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Peshawar, the voters including male and female are coming to polling stations in large numbers and exercising their right of franchise in a free, fair and transparent atmosphere. ” I have fulfilled my national obligation after casting my vote at my native polling station,’ said Manzoorul Haq, former Ambassador while talking to media.

He advised voters not to wait for the afternoon to avoid the rush and come out from their homes in large numbers by polling their votes and play role in the decision process. ” Polling starts exactly at 8am and voters are coming in large number at their respective polling booths since then,” said Sundas Amin, Presiding Officer of Govt school Bara Lines Peshawar polling station.

She said water and seating facilities were arranged for voters inside polling stations. She said identity of voters are being checked also through polling agents of candidates. In Nowshera and Mardan, polling of votes was also started where voters including male, female and youth besides persons with disabilities are coming to polling stations.

According to media, polling was also started in Khyber, Mohmand, and other tribal districts where voters were coming to polling stations in large numbers. A great rush of voters are being seen at Parachinar Kurram, Orakzai, DI Khan, Mardan, Swat, Dir, Malakand, Chitral, Abbottabad, Buner, Shangla, Kohat, Charsadda and other districts of the province.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has set up over 15, 696 polling stations for 21.928 million registered voters set up in KP. These voters are deciding the fate of 713 candidates contesting for national assembly seats and 1,814 candidates for provincial assembly seats. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, there are around 11.944383 million male and 99,83,737 million female voters who would exercise the right to vote today.

Similarly, 4,180 polling stations were set up for males, 4,287 polling stations for females and 6600 combined polling stations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, The voters are being facilitated by over 1,80,000 trained polling staff deployed for polling duties. The supporters of candidates have set up polling camps some 200 meters outside of polling stations for education and guidance of voters, especially youth.

Police! Frontier Corps, Frontier Constabulary and other law enforcement agencies were deployed for the security of polling stations and voters. Carrying arms and ammunition inside the polling stations were banned. The election in NA 8 Bajaur was postponed due to the death of a candidate.