Pakistan (Commonwealth Union)_ The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a warning that the scheduled elections on February 8 may face delays if the trend of changing election symbols persists. The ECP, without explicitly mentioning any specific court, revealed that election symbols were being altered through various channels. In a statement, the commission mentioned that the process of changing symbols could lead to a potential election delay due to the need for reprinting ballot papers.
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The ECP had already initiated the printing process, and any further alterations could result in time constraints and the loss of special paper designated for ballot production. The statement added, “If the process of changing the election symbols continues in the same way, there is a fear of election delay because the ballot papers will have to be reprinted, for which time is already limited, and on the other hand, the special paper available for the ballot papers will also be lost”.
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The commission highlighted a significant increase of over 33% in the number of candidates for the upcoming general elections. It stated that a total of 18,059 candidates are participating, compared to the 11,700 candidates in the 2018 elections. Additionally, the estimated paper required for printing has substantially increased to 2,070 tonnes for 260 million ballot papers, particularly following the update of electoral rolls amid constituency delimitation. Notably, 800 tons of paper were utilized to print 220 million ballots during the 2018 elections.
While addressing this evolving situation, the ECP has consistently instructed relevant officials that election symbols should not be changed once the printing process has commenced. However, the statement emphasized that if the trend persists, the only viable option may be to postpone the elections in affected constituencies. The ECP said, “It was also being considered that if the trend of changing the election symbols did not stop, there would be no other option but to postpone the elections in such constituencies”.
The ECP had previously prohibited district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) from altering election symbols assigned to candidates for the upcoming elections. ECP spokesman Syed Nadeem Haider stated that officials were directed to seek approval if a change in symbols was deemed essential at this stage.
