Polling is under underway in KP for the first phase of the 2021 local government elections.

PESHAWAR: Today is the first day of the first phase of local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 17 districts (Sunday). The remainder of KP will go to the elections next month.

The polls opened at 8 a.m. and will remain open until 5 p.m.

Strict security measures have been put in place, with a total of 79,479 police and other law enforcement officials deployed in the voting areas.
Among the 17 districts are Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshehra, Mardan, and Peshawar. However, voting for Dera Ismail Khan mayor municipal council was postponed following the killing of ANP candidate Mohammad Umar Khitab in an incident on Saturday.

Following the event, security in DIK and surrounding districts was increased.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), there are 12.66 million registered voters across 17 districts, with 7. 015 million male voters and 5.653 million female voters.

For today’s elections, a total of 9,223 polling stations and 28,892 voting booths have been set up.

Of them, 2,507 polling stations have been designated as most sensitive, 4,188 as sensitive, and 528 as regular.

Meanwhile, 860 voting locations in the province capital have been labelled as sensitive, 165 as most sensitive, and 224 as regular.

In Peshawar alone, over 11,000 police officers and other forces members were deployed for security during the elections.

According to an official, in addition to the police, Frontier Constabulary officers will be stationed at around 200 of the province’s most sensitive voting sites in the provincial capital. The deployment to all polling sites is complete.

Furthermore, the Ababeel squad, fast reaction force, and other personnel will be on standby to rush in the event of a catastrophe in the region. The cops have been instructed not to allow the flaunting of firearms, aerial firing, or the establishment of law and order.

On Saturday, Inspector-General of Police Moazzam Jah Ansari presided over a meeting on election security and urged officials to guarantee perfect security.

For the first time, officers from former tribal regions have been deployed in several districts across the province to provide election protection.

LG elections are being held in districts of former Fata for the first time.

According to the ECP, there are a total of 12.66 million registered voters in the 17 districts, with 7. 015 men and 5.653 females.

In the first round of voting, 37,752 individuals are running in various categories. Among them, 689 candidates are vying to lead the city and tehsil councils, while 19,285 are vying for the positions of general councillors, village council chairman, and neighbourhood council chairman.

Furthermore, 3,905 candidates are vying for seats as women councillors, 7513 as peasant councillors, 6081 as youth councillors, and 282 as minority councillors.

According to reports, 876 women councillors have been elected unopposed in various village and neighbourhood councils around the province. Unopposed, a substantial number of minority councillors were elected.