Complete security arrangements have been made while the distribution of polling material is underway as voting in the first phase of local bodies’ (LB) elections in Sindh will be held today (Sunday, June 26, 2022), reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

After setting up of control room at the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) office in Islamabad, a monitoring cell has also been established at the office of Sindh election commissioner in Karachi in order to ensure strict surveillance of the polling process.   

People will cast their votes in Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Larkana and Mirpurkhas divisions.    

As many as 149 candidates have already been elected unopposed on 1, 631 seats in Khairpur, Sukkur and Ghotki.    

Similarly, 255 candidates in Shaheed Benazirabad division, 437 in Larkana division and 160 in Mirpurkhas division have been elected unopposed.  

Strict security measures have been put in place at 464 polling stations in Sukkur which the ECP has declared ‘extremely sensitive’. 

Yesterday, (Friday, June 24, 2022), the Sindh High Court while rejecting the petitions filed by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) had decreed that local bodies’ (LBs) elections would be held in Sindh on June 26.  

A two-member bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Junaid Ghaffar, heard the petitions. 

During the hearing, Justice Ghaffar asked as to why the LB polls had not been held within 120 days as ordered by the Supreme Court (SC). “Polls have already been held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,” he remarked. 

Counsel for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) replied that demarcations of the constituencies had resulted in the delay. 

Reporter: Usman Khan