ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday stated that the relevant departments have been directed to beef up security measures to ensure the safety of political leaders and voters.

According to a Radio Pakistan’s report, participating in Suno FM network’s talk show ‘Forum’, ECP’s Spokesperson, Syed Nadeem Hyder and Additional Director General Nighat Sadique said the election commission at its meeting in Islamabad on Thursday reviewed the law and order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

They said despite security challenges, the general elections will be held on the 8th of this month. The ECP’s spokesperson expressed confidence that voter turnout would be better this time, citing the participation of five thousand and five hundred more candidates compared to the last elections.

Additional Director General Nighat Sadique stated that we have provided training to five hundred thousand security personnel as to how to accommodate persons with disabilities, transgenders and elderly people on the polling day.

She said these individuals will not be required to wait in the queue instead, they will be prioritized to cast their votes.

The ECP officials once again made it clear that the voters will have to bring their CNICs to the polling station for voting. A vote can be cast even if the CNIC is expired.