Stage set for holding bye-polls in NA-120 tomorrow

LAHORE, Sept 16 (APP): All arrangements have been finalized to hold
bye-election in the National Assembly-120 in a free, fair and impartial manner here tomorrow (Sunday).
The bye-election is expected to be more interesting with high turn-out
of voters due to their unprecedented enthusiasm shown during the election campaigns of respective political parties, which fielded their candidates to grab the NA-120 seat.
Election Commission of Pakistan (Punjab) sources told APP here
Saturday that a total of 44 candidates including 32 independent and 12
from different political parties were contesting the NA-120 bye-election. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) fielded Begum Kulsoom Nawaz,
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Pakistan People’s
Party (PPP) Faisal Mir, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ziauddin Ansari and Milli Muslim League (MML) Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh.
They said that there were a total of 321,786 registered voters in
the constituency with 179,642 male and 142,144 female for which the ECP
had established 220 polling stations including 103 for male, 98 for
female and 19 combined, where a total of 573 polling booths (312 for
male and 261 for female) would facilitate the voters.
ECP sources added that election material such as ballot papers, ballot boxes, lists of voters, stationary had also been dispatched to all the polling stations in the constituency under of the supervision of armed personnel. While 220 Presiding Officers, 573 Assistant Presiding Officers and 573 Polling Officers would perform duties on the polling day, they added.
The election commission has also set up seven monitoring teams with
20 officials from Islamabad and the four provinces to maintain the code
of conduct and monitor biometric machines, they said and mentioned that 100 biometric voting machines would be placed on trial basis in 39
polling stations of the constituency.
Meanwhile, Election Commission, Punjab, issued the list of 29,607 voters of the constituency with missing thumb impressions in the civil registry database of the NADRA, following the Lahore High Court’s order.
The list had been put on display in the office of Returning Officer of NA-120, ECP Punjab office and office of the District Election Commissioner.
All necessary administrative and security arrangements have been finalized to conduct by-election in the constituency in a free, fair and impartial manner.