The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has started receiving nomination papers from potential candidates for the upcoming general elections, scheduled to be held on February 8.
Candidates may pick up forms from the electoral body between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. They must submit their nomination papers by December 22 (Friday).
Meanwhile, the ECP will release the preliminary list of candidates on December 23, and nomination papers will be scrutinized from December 24 to December 30.
The electoral commission will assign election insignia to parties and independent candidates on January 13, a month before the February 8 election.
Nomination papers will be filed in Karachi for 22 National Assembly seats and 47 provincial assembly seats, with 69 returning officers (ROs) and seven district returning officers (DROs) appointed for the national and provincial assemblies, respectively.
The ECP previously said that potential candidates for reserved seats for women and minorities in provincial assemblies and the National Assembly can get nomination papers for a fee from their local ROs and district election commissions.
Nomination papers, however, must be presented to their respective ROs between December 20 and December 22. And every matter, including scrutiny, will be handled there as well.
Following the oathtaking of district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) by the electoral authority under the Elections Act 2017, the process of gathering nomination papers commences.
On Monday, at least 859 returning ROs finished their three-day training, while 144 DROs were trained on Tuesday. The ROs had already attended a one-day training when a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) office-bearer and lawyer filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, resulting in the suspension of their appointment notification. As a result, their training was halted on December 14.
However, the Supreme Court overturned the LHC ruling and instructed the ECP to announce the election timetable, resulting in the reinstatement of DRO and RO notices.