ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan has extended the facility of postal ballot to persons with disabilities (PWDs) for the upcoming general election.
PWDs can avail postal ballot paper facility to exercise their right to vote in general election 2018, the ECP said in a circular issued earlier.
Citizens with Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) mentioning their disability can submit their applications requesting the postal ballot facility to the relevant returning officers by July 5.
The facility is also available for government employees who are unable to reach polling stations due to active election duty and prisoners in jails.
Deputy Election Commissioner Multan Shakeel Ahmad, elaborating on the procedure, said once the applications are received, the ROs would send back to the applicants a package containing two envelopes, postal ballots, a page carrying instructions, and a declaration form.
Government employees would be required to get the declaration form signed by their respective heads of departments declaring they are government employees and deployed for active election duty.
After filling in the ballot paper, they should put ballots in one envelope along with the signed declaration form in the other envelope and send them both in one envelope to the RO to get their vote counted.
Prisoners would be required to get the declaration form signed by jail superintendent, while disabled persons would need any gazette officer to declare that they are disabled with mobility problem.
Another ECP official admitted that they do not have an estimate for the number of PWDs who are registered to vote in Pakistan.
