RAWALPINDI:
PTI founding chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan; vice chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi; ex-Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, who is also the president of the party; and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief and former interior minister Sheikh Rashid are among the 145 inmates – incarcerated at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail – who will cast their votes in the upcoming general polls from prison through postal ballots.
According to details, 145 prisoners at the Adiala Jail have applied for permission to use postal ballots to exercise their right to vote.
Among those who have approached the prison administration to exercise their voting rights through postal ballots are imprisoned political figures.
The prisoners who wished to cast their vote through postal ballots from the jail including Imran, Qureshi, Elahi, and Rashid were given time till Jan 22 to apply. However, Adiala Jail Superintendent Asad Javed Warraich also granted additional time with the approval of the competent authority to give maximum opportunity to the prisoners to exercise their right to vote.
A senior officer of the prisons department said the applications and details of all the inmates who wanted to cast their votes through postal ballots in the elections were being sent to the district returning officer.
When the relevant material, ballot papers, etc from the DRO are received, polling stations and booths will be built in the prison a day before the elections to provide the inmates with the facility of voting.
After the completion of the polling process, all votes cast and other material – sealed in packets – will be handed over to the DRO under strict security.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) itself will count the postal ballots and compile their results.
Under normal circumstances, postal ballots are meant to allow government officials, armed forces personnel, individuals in public offices, as well as their spouses and children living away from their constituencies to cast their votes before the official elections day.
As per the ECP’s rules for these individuals, the application must be forwarded or endorsed by the voter’s office to prevent unauthorised people from applying for a postal ballot.
Read also: PTI seeks postal ballot if Imran detained
After an application is received, the returning officer is obligated to send a ballot paper and envelope to the voter by post in accordance with the Elections Act, 2017.
The envelope must display a certificate of posting on its front side. The posting date should be filled in by the post office official when the voter sends it.
After receiving their postal ballot, the act states that voters should record their votes as prescribed.
After it is recorded, the voter is required to post the ballot paper to the returning officer in the provided envelope, ensuring it arrives before the consolidation of the results.
The ECP received 449,287 applications for postal ballot.
A total of 260,533 applications came in for postal ballot for the National Assembly and 242,754 applications for postal ballot for provincial assemblies.
From Punjab, 73,586 postal ballot applications were received for the NA and 74,274 for the provincial assembly.
Similarly from Sindh, 24,420 postal ballot applications came in for the NA and 26,649 for the provincial assembly.
From K-P, 72,769 postal ballot applications were received for the NA and 81,281 for the provincial assembly.
From Balochistan, 35,758 postal ballot applications were received for the NA and 60,550 for the provincial assembly.
(With input from News Desk)
