The Election Commission of Pakistan is an independent, autonomous, permanent and constitutionally established federal body responsible for organizing and conducting of elections to state parliament, provincial legislatures, local governments, elections to the office of President of Pakistan, Delimitation of Constituencies and preparation of Electoral Rolls.

1. ELECTION COMMISSION OF
PAKISTAN
By Mahnoor Shah Jhan, roll#28

2. AN INTRODUCTION
 Pakistan constitutionally is
a democratic parliamentary republic
with its political system based on an
elected form of governance.
Election management bodies
1. Completely independent from
Government
2. Completely under government control
3. Semi-autonomous
 The Election Commission of
Pakistan lies in the first category.

3. ELECTION COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN
‫تودوا‬ ‫ان‬‫ت‬ٰ‫االمن‬‫اهلها‬ ٰ‫الى‬
"to render the trusts (such as the affairs of the state) to their
owners (those who are competent to it)"
-Quran 4:58

4. ORIGIN OF ECP
 Formed
 March 23, 1956; 61 years ago
(7 December; National voters day)
 Jurisdiction
 Constitution of Pakistan
 Headquarters
 Islamabad CapitalVenue
 Agency Executives
 MugheesAli (chief Election Commissioner)
 BabarYaqub Fateh (Secretary Election Commission of
Pakistan)

5. INTRODUCTION
The Election Commission of Pakistan is
an independent, autonomous,
permanent
and constitutionally established federal
body responsible for organizing and
conducting of elections to state
parliament, provincial legislatures, local
governments, elections to the office of
President of Pakistan, Delimitation of
Constituencies and preparation of
Electoral Rolls.

6. ECP- A CONSTITUTIONAL BODY
 Key words
 Independent
 Autonomous
 Permanent
 Responsible for the entire
process, "conducting of
elections".
(the phrase gives sweeping powers to
ECP)

7. STRUCTURE
Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza
(Current Chief Election Commissioner)
Under the Article 213 & 216, ECP has a
five member panel consisting of
 A Chief Election Commissioner
 Four retired judges of the High
Courts from respective four
provinces of the country
All members of are appointed by the
President and have equal status and say in
the decisions of the Commission.

8. VISION OF ECP
 To become a more vibrant and
progressive election management
body that delivers its constitutional
mandate of organizing and
conducting elections
 honestly
 justly
 fairly
 and guarding against corrupt practices
having complete trust of the people,
and contributing towards a stronger
democracy in Pakistan.

9. MISSION OF ECP
To organize and conduct elections honestly,
justly, fairly and transparently in accordance with
law by further enhancing organizational
capacity;
 preparing and maintaining credible electoral
rolls;
 delimiting constituencies in a transparent
manner;
 encouraging informed voters’ participation;
 managing electoral processes diligently;
 employing modern electoral technologies;
 ensuring inclusiveness;
 consolidating constructive relationships with all
stakeholders;
and continuing electoral reforms in Pakistan.”

10. BRIEF HISTORY-EVOLUTION
OF ECP

11. ECP UNDER 1956-CONSTITUTION
 A permanent ECP, headed by a chief
election commissioner (CEC) and as
many members, called election
commissioners
 Appointment was to be made by
President of Pakistan for 05 years
 selection was not limited to judges

12. ECP UNDER 1962-CONSTITUTION
 Permanence of the ECP ended.
 An election commission was to be created for each election.
 ECP comprises of 2 serving judges one from each high court (East and west
Pakistan)
 CEC would be head of ECP for 03 years.

13. ECP UNDER 1973-CONSTITUTION
 The chief election commissioner was a permanent for a three-year term.
 CEC must be a serving or retired Judge
 ECP comprises of 02 x high court judges
 The judges were chosen by the president after consultation with the chief
justices concerned

14. CHANGES MADE UNDER 18TH AMENDMENT
 ECP is now a permanent body, comprising a CEC, who is no more the sole
boss, and four retired judges
 The power to select them has been taken from the president and given to
parliament.
 CEC`s term had rightly been raised to five years

15. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF ECP

16. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF ECP
In order to organize and conduct elections
Honestly
Justly
fairly
the Election Commission has a permanent
administrative office that is ECP Secretariat
in Islamabad.
There is a ECP Secretary who lead the
countrywide network of offices.
Present ECP secretary Babar yaqoob

17. CONTINUED
The Secretary manages
human and material resources
formulates policies
applies them in order to create
conditions where the ECP as an
organization is able to effectively
perform its functions.
The Secretary has the support of
Additional Secretary
various Director Generals (DGs),
Provincial Election Commissioners
(PECs),
Additional Director Generals (ADGs)
and other officers.

18. CONTINUED
In the hierarchical set-up the DGs (director Generals) are assisted by
ADGs
Deputy Directors
Assistant Directors and many more.
The ECP has more than 2,200 staff members across the country.The current
organizational structure of the ECP is describes next.

19. ECP SECRETARIAT
The Secretariat consists of various wings and
units:
 Election Wing
 BudgetWing
 Administration Wing
 Local Government Wing
 InformationTechnology Wing
 Training Wing
 Law Directorate
 Public Relations Directorate.
The Secretariat of the
ECP is situated in
Islamabad and is headed
by Secretary of the ECP,
who manages the
functions of the
organization throughout
the country.

20. INDEPENDENCE
The Commission has to
maintain its independence
full financial autonomy
and functions
independently of all
government control.
Without the government interference, the
commission has to
perform its functions
conduct of nationwide general elections
the by-elections
the preparation of polling schemes
the appointment of polling personnel
 assignments of voters
arrangements for the maintenance of law
and order
supervision and directions of the Election
Commission.

21. CONTINUED
Each of the Wings/Directorates/Units is headed by either a DG or an ADG.
The DGs are assisted by ADGs, Directors, Deputy Directors and Assistant
Directors.
The ECP has also established two new units:
 Electoral Finance Unit and
 Gender Unit
that are headed by ADGs.

22. PROVINCIAL ELECTION COMMISSIONERS’ OFFICES
Their offices are located in the four provincial
capitals:
1. Karachi
2. Lahore
3. Peshawar
4. Quetta
The PECs are supported by Joint Provincial Election
Commissioners (JPECs), Directors, Deputy Directors,
Assistant Directors and other staff.
There is one JPEC in each of the four provincial offices.
The provincial set-up of
the ECP is headed by
a Provincial Election
Commissioner (PEC).

23. REGIONAL ELECTION COMMISSIONERS’ OFFICES
The ECP has Regional Election Commissioners (RECs) in as many divisions
of the country.
The RECs mainly play the role of a link between the PEC Office and DECs.
They also corporate with the
Divisional administration
District administrations
Other public stakeholders in their respective jurisdiction.

24. DISTRICT ELECTION COMMISSIONERS’ OFFICES
There are 126 district offices throughout the
country.
DEC also functions as
A District Officer that establish and maintain
liaison with district administration and other
executive authorities
A Registration Officer tasked with maintaining the
electoral rolls.
The ECP also has Election Officers in the districts to
assist the DECs in various areas of their work.
The ECP has clerical support staff across the
organization.They assist in the various departments.
The lowest tier of the
ECP’s organizational set-
up in the country is at the
district level, headed by a
District Election
Commissioner (DEC).

25. GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF ECP

26. IMPARTIALITY
The ECP should not support or promote any
political party at all
Should not in favor of a particular cause.
Should be fair in all of its decisions and
functions.
Justice holding in implementation of
decisions
No biasedness preferring the benefit to one
person over another for important reasons
equal treatment of
all challenges or
debates; fairness.

27. TRANSPARENCY
The ECP should have transparency in its policies
and actions
Should ensure that the stakeholders have
access to relevant information
It is the responsibility of the ECP to disclose
results in a transparent manner.
Openness,
accountability, and
honesty define
transparency, the
obligation to share
information with
citizens.

28. INCLUSION OF MARGINALIZED GROUPS
The ECP must pay its full efforts to create
favorable conditions for women, minorities
and persons with disabilities with regard to
the electoral process
It should take necessary steps for the
preservation of women and minority rights.
To empowered powerless
or unimportant people
within a society or group
for taking participate in
the functions of ECP

29. PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE
The ECP will ensure to have
Qualified
Competent
Selected on merit staff
in order to organize and conduct credible
elections.
ECP must ensure that it
is having professional
excellence in its all
departments overwide
throughout Pakistan

30. FAVORABLE WORKING CONDITIONS
The ECP must always tries hard to create
 Favorable working conditions
 Productive and promising results
 and deal with its employees in a fair manner.
It should provide smooth functioning at every
step.
ECP promote
conducive working
conditions for the
better functioning

31. GENDER MAINSTREAMING
 The ECP must strive to mainstream gender in
its structure as well as in the electoral
processes.
 It must involve the gender perspective to
respond more effectively to the need of all
citizens – women and men, girls and boys.
 It must preserve the rights of inequalities
Gender
mainstreaming
internationally is a
strategy towards
realizing gender
equality

32. INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES
While introducing electoral reforms the ECP
must adopt best practices based on ground
realities in line with international standards.
That can include reforms of:
Electoral constituencies
election district borders
Ballot design
voting equipment
Scrutineering (election monitoring by
candidates, political parties, etc.)
Electoral reforms
must be according
to the International
Standards

33. FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES

34. TO PREPARE ELECTORAL ROLLS
 To prepare electoral rolls
for elections to the
National and Provincial
Assemblies and revise such
rolls annually. [Article 219
(a)];

35. TO ORGANIZE AND CONDUCT ELECTIONS
 To organize and conduct election
to the Senate and fill casual
vacancies in a House or a Provincial
Assembly [Article 219(b)];

36. TO CONDUCT ELECTIONSTOTHE LOCAL
GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS
 To organize and conduct
election to the Local
Government institutions
[Article 140A]
A Pakistani voter places his thumb imprint at a
polling station for the local bodies elections in
Quetta on December 7, 2013.

37. TO APPOINT ELECTIONTRIBUNALS
 To appoint ElectionTribunals.
[Article 219]

38. DIDQUALIFICATION OF MEMBERS
 To decide cases of
disqualification of members of
Parliament and Provincial
Assemblies on receipt of
reference from the Chairman or
the Speaker or Head of the
political party, as the case may
be. [Article 63(2) and Article
63A]
 Recent disqualification of Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif

39. ELECTIONSTOTHE OFFICE OFTHE PRESIDENT
 To hold and conduct election to
the office of the President as per
Second Schedule to the
Constitution of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan [Article 41 (3)]
 The first presidentYahya Khan
elected by the public of Pakistan

40. TO HOLD REFERENDUM
 To hold Referendum as
and when ordered by
the executive authority.
[Article 48 (6)]

41. GOALS & OBJECTIVES

42. REFORMING ELECTORAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Preparing a paper on issues related to the legal framework in light of lessons
learned in wake of previous general elections
Review the package of amendments sent to the government prior and resend
for legislation
Unify the election laws by improving the earlier draft and also bring about
improvements
 Unification of election rules on the basis of the unified election law
 Analysis of new local government laws and rules and draft recommendations
for improvements
Devise legal provisions with sanctions to prevent any attempt to bar female
voters from exercising their right to vote at an election

43. CONTINUED
Review for the Political Parties
Review the system of reserved seats
Make the codes of conduct
Provide technical assistance to the
relevant standing committees of the Senate and
National Assembly
Identify and introduce electronic voting
machines, and biometric identification of
voters for elections

44. CONTINUED
Improve the form used for submission of statements of assets and
liabilities by the members of the Parliament and Provincial Assemblies
Devise legal framework enabling internally displaced persons to vote
for their home constituencies
Examine the system of postal ballot and bring about improvements
Propose legal amendments to revise timelines for finalization of
polling scheme and increase the duration for better management of
elections

45. ELECTION OPERATIONS
 Develop an operational plan for piloting electronic voting machines and
biometric voter identification
 Develop an EVM and biometric voter identification implementation plan
 Establish a geographical information system (GIS)
 Engage all relevant government entities for their support to seek data to be used
for delimitation of constituencies as well as for preparation of list of polling
stations
 Undertake an assessment of the polling stations with a focus on accessibility
for persons with disabilities
 Establish polling stations across the country with no change in the four
months prior to an election

46. CONTINUED
 Develop a practical operational plan for out of country voting for overseas
Pakistani voters
 Develop a system for election observation
 Prepare guidelines for presiding officers to get confirmation about the visit of
an election observer
 Review the level of financial/logistic support to public sector employees for
their engagement in different activities
 Develop and maintain a database of trained polling staff
 Review various forms and envelops used for an election and reduce their
number for easy handling by polling staff

47. CONTINUED
 establish a tracking system
 Undertake a study on ballot paper integrity and suggest improvements with
security features
 Engage the government for holding the national census in the country
 Strengthen district coordination committees
 Review the current system of multiple constituencies managed by one RO
and replace it with one RO managing one constituency only – national or
provincial
 Develop a paper on creating a pool of ROs/DROs/presiding officers with
different options
 Establish an electronic information management system

48. ELECTION DISPUTE RESOLUTION
 Identify gaps in the law dealing with electoral dispute resolution and
elaborate procedures for improvement
 Refine and improve the handbook for AppellateTribunals
 Develop a handbook and other support material for ElectionTribunals
 Run awareness campaigns to inform candidates and political parties
about the process of lodging complaints and filing petitions
 Improve tracking and management of incoming complaints using a
database system to ensure professional management of complaints

49. AUTONOMY OF THE ECP, FINANCE AND BUDGET
SYSTEM
 Undertake an assessment of the level of autonomy
 Improve the areas related to financial autonomy of the ECP on the basis of
the findings of the assessment report
 Follow the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) regulations
to ensure transparency in all procurements, and ensure quality of the
procured material
 Develop a computer-based inventory system – easy to use and update –
to support the ECP’s logistical and procurement needs
 Set up a Quality Assurance Committee to check the quality of
material procured and ensure that it is as per required specifications and
standards

50. ELECTORAL FINANCE
 Assess the legal framework dealing with electoral finance and make it
more effective
 Develop a campaign monitoring toolkit for the ECP’s monitoring teams
 Develop a training methodology and plan, and conduct training of
monitoring teams
 Set up and strengthen an Electoral Finance Unit at the ECP Secretariat
 Build the capacity of the staff managing the Electoral Finance Unit
through relevant trainings

51. VOTER REGISTRATION AND ELECTORAL ROLLS
 Establish computerized electoral rolls system (CERS) at the ECP
Secretariat and PEC offices and have it operationalized by NADRA along
with source code, system documentation and Management Information
System, etc
 Maintain and update voters database system at the ECP Secretariat and
PEC offices and improve the existing CERS
 Extend CERS to the ECP’s district offices across the country and ensure
their connectivity for online/real-time updating of voters’ data
 Develop, approve and implement a standard operating procedure for
updating the electoral rolls on a regular basis – including new registrations,
deletions and correction of voters particulars under Section 18 of the
Electoral Rolls Act, 1974

52. CONTINUED
 Review the existing death registration system in collaboration with
NADRA and suggest improvements for keeping the electoral roll updated
 Review quality of the electoral roll through list-to-voter and voter-to-list
analysis based on defined parameters
 Analyze the existing format of electoral rolls and introduce improvements
for easy identification of voters during the polling process and decide on
changing from census bloc to polling station-centered strategy
 Develop operational and technical procedures for updating the CERS
database once the system is delivered by NADRA

53. CIVIC ANDVOTER EDUCATION
 Undertake a survey on voter participation, including men and women
 Develop a bi-yearly voter education plan with specific targets
 Develop a civic education plan targeting engagement of different
segments of society
 Engage with civil society at the district level to reinvigorate the ECP’s
district civic and voter education committees
 Increase voter participation in the next general elections with all-inclusive
efforts covering men, women, minorities, youth, persons with disabilities
and others
 Develop material on civic and voter education for inclusion in
school/college level curriculum

54. CONTINUED
 Undertake advocacy efforts with the provincial ministries of education to
include voter/civic education
 Prepare and disseminate information through the ECP’s website
 Prepare the ECP’s quarterly newsletter and share information with
internal and external stakeholders
 Place voter information and educational videos on the ECP’s website
 Hold debates in educational institutions covering various dimensions of
civic and voter education
 Develop messages, themes and topics for various voter/civic education
activities in the country

55. GENDER IN ELECTORAL PROCESSES ANDTHE ECP
 Formulate an implementation plan for rolling out gender-related activities
 Conduct research to identify barriers which prevent women from registering
and exercising their right to vote
 Devise a strategy to reduce the gap between men and women on the
electoral rolls
 Develop a strategy for reducing voter turnout gaps between men and
women
 Develop a mechanism for increasing the percentage of female polling staff
 Develop curriculum/ material for training of the ECP officials on gender
issues and implement it through FEA

56. CONTINUED
 Develop a concept note to identify the advantages of having picture on
the CNIC for women
 Review existing guidelines for polling staff for effective recording of
gender disaggregated results
 All position advertisements of the ECP to state “women are encouraged
to apply”
 Train ECP master trainers on gender specific training for managing
gender-related training needs
 Make all training and voter education material gender sensitive and work
towards building a gender-sensitive culture in the ECP

57. CONTINUED
 Analyze polling stations with high and low women turnout to identify
issues and prospects
 Strengthen the mechanism for recording and redressing complaints of
women voters and candidates
 Include gender matters in the training of security and polling personnel
 Ensure effective implementation of Protection against Harassment of
Women in theWorkplace

58. MINORITIES AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
 Focus on ensuring participation of minorities in the electoral processes
while developing voter education material
 Undertake a gender-sensitive survey on barriers to participation of
persons with disabilities in the electoral processes
 Develop training modules on persons with disabilities’ participation in
electoral processes
 Conduct training of the ECP officials on inclusion of persons with
disabilities in the electoral processes

59. TRAINING AND CAPACITY BUILDING
 Develop a yearly training plan for the FEA
 Train and build the capacity of at least 50 ECP officers as master trainers in different
electoral areas
 Develop specific curriculum and undertake training and capacity building activities for
senior/mid-level ECP officers
 Build capacity of the junior support function staff of the ECP (grade 7-16) in their
specific roles as well as in general areas
 Organize BRIDGE
 Develop an induction plan for officers joining the ECP
 Implement the ECP’s induction plan on a regular basis through FEA

60. CONTINUED
 Train polling staff for the next general elections
 Train/orient DROs and ROs for the next general elections
 Train security officials about their role in election
 Work with political parties and support their efforts
 Develop materials for training of polling staff engaged for general and bye-
elections
 Develop training/ orientation materials for DROs and ROs
 Develop general capacity building material for ECP employees at various levels
 Train and build the capacity of FEA staff to better manage the academy
administratively and technically

61. CONTINUED
 Expose ECP officers to international best practices
 Strengthen the ECP’s research capability to support its key functions
 Train ECP officers in the conduct of election to the Senate of Pakistan
 Train ECP officers on delimitation of constituencies
 Develop a pool of master trainers throughout the country for training
polling staff for general elections
 Develop materials/modules for the training of polling staff for local
government elections

62. CONTINUED
 Training of polling staff for local Develop materials/modules for the
training of DROs/ROs for local government elections
 Train DROs/ROs for local government elections
 Make available all training materials on the ECP website
 Develop a database of ECP officials who received training – within and
outside Pakistan
 Develop and maintain a database of ECP trainers

63. ECP’S STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH
 Strengthen a two-way communication system with political parties
 Develop a strategic communication plan for the ECP to manage communication
 Hold regular consultations with Pakistani civil society and international
stakeholders
 Assess the ECP’s website layout and contents and make it more informative and
dynamic with updated information
 Review and improve the system of placement of statements of assets and
liabilities of the Parliamentarians and members of the Provincial Assemblies by
the ECP on its website
 Undertake briefings for media persons and observers – both national and
international

64. ECP’S ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND HUMAN
RESOURCES
 Review the ECP’s organizational structure and human resources and identify any
gaps in the system
 Develop a revised organizational chart with clear responsibilities and line of
communication
 Develop job description for each position in the ECP
 Make terms of reference as part of the ECP’s Officers and Servants Rules
 Recruit training staff for FEA
 Deploy trainers to manage training needs at the provincial level
 Establish a Gender Unit at the ECP and deploy resources to address various
challenges, on the basis of the already developed term of reference

65. CONTINUED
 Establish an Electoral Finance Unit on the basis of the terms of reference already
developed
 Establish a specialized Civic andVoter Education / Information Unit at the ECP
 Operationalize the Electoral Rolls Wing/Unit at the ECP and develop its capacity
 Review and finalize the HR policy of the ECP
 Ensure that women are at least 10 percent of the ECP’s workforce at all levels
 Ensure that minorities are at least 5 percent of the ECP’s workforce at all levels
 Ensure that persons with disabilities are at least 2 percent of the ECP’s workforce
at all levels

66. ECP OFFICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE
 Undertake an assessment of the ECP’s office buildings across the country
in terms of their space and suitability
 Acquire land in all districts for construction of the ECP offices and
warehouses
 Prepare a plan for improving infrastructure of the ECP’s offices all over the
country
 Improve infrastructure of the ECP offices to make them accessible to
persons with disabilities
 Prepare a standard design of all the ECP office buildings in the country
 Construct ECP office buildings all over the country in a phased manner

67. THANKS
Any Questions?