Deadline to submit postal ballot applications for Pakistan election staff ends on Monday

A street is festooned with flags of political parties ahead of Pakistan's national elections 2024, in Quetta on January 21, 2024. (AFP)

• The provision allows government officials, security personnel and other specified individuals to vote ahead of polling day 
• Eligible individuals can obtain prescribed form from returning officers or download it from the election commission’s website 

ISLAMABAD: The deadline for election staff to submit applications for postal ballots for the upcoming national elections will expire tomorrow, on Monday, Pakistani state media reported, citing the country’s election oversight body.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had initiated on Jan. 6 the postal ballot process for eligible individuals to get ballot papers for both national and provincial assembly elections. The regulator had set Jan. 22 as the deadline to submit applications.
The provision is specifically tailored for government officials, armed forces personnel, and individuals in public offices as well as their spouses and children, who reside away from their constituencies, to vote ahead of the polling day.
The eligibility criteria also encompass individuals in detention and those with physical disabilities, provided they hold a computerized national identity card (CNIC) with a disability logo issued by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). 
“The Election Commission has started the process of providing postal ballot papers to eligible individuals for the general elections for both national and provincial assemblies,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported on Sunday.
“Eligible voters must download a postal ballot application from the electoral authority’s website.”
However, the application should be forwarded or endorsed by the office of the voter to guard against unauthorized persons applying for postal ballot, according to the ECP.
Upon receiving an application from a voter, the returning officer is required to send a ballot paper and an envelope to the voter by post, according to the Elections Act 2017. The envelope should include a form of certificate of posting on its face, indicating the posting date, to be filled in by the relevant post office official when the voter sends it.
Once a postal ballot is received, the act says, a voter shall record their vote as prescribed. After recording, they should post the ballot paper to the relevant returning officer in the provided envelope, ensuring it reaches before the consolidation of the results.