LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Saturday declared that a polling agent could be appointed from any of the constituencies and suspended a notification of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The court passed these orders in a petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Punjab president Dr Yasmin Rashid challenging the notification of the ECP.

The court observed that the impugned notification was suspended temporarily and the ECP was free to make new rules for the appointment of the polling agents after the July 17 by-poll. The court directed the ECP to ensure the by-polls were held in a fair and transparent manner.

The ECP had announced that the polling agents for the July 17 by-elections shall be the voters of the respective constituencies. It said no candidate shall appoint any polling agent from outside the constituency.

Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel argued before the court that the ECP unlawfully announced the condition for the polling agents. The counsel said there was no restriction on the polling agents in the past. He further argued that it was not necessary under the law to appoint polling agents from the same constituency.

A counsel for the ECP argued that the decision was taken to avoid any violence on the day of election.

He said there would be a likelihood of violence if voters from outside the constituencies were allowed to join the election activity as polling agents. The court, however, rejected the notion and observed that the voters of other constituencies were not “aliens”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022