The Election Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ; ECP) is an independent, autonomous, permanent and
constitutionally
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
established federal body responsible for organizing and conducting
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
local governments
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
, and the office of
President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.constituencies and preparation of
electoral roll
An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broke ...
s. As per the principles outlined in the
Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution of Pakistan ( ur, ), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. Drafted by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, with additional assistance from the country's opposition parties, it was approved by ...
, the Commission makes such arrangements as needed to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against. The Election Commission was formed on 23 March 1956 and has been restructured and reformed several times throughout the
history of Pakistan
The history of preceding the country's independence in 1947 is shared with that of Afghanistan, India, and Iran. Spanning the western expanse of the Indian subcontinent and the eastern borderlands of the Iranian plateau, the region of pres ...
High Courts
High may refer to:
Science and technology
* Height
* High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area
* High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory
* High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...
, each from one of the four
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
(
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...
,
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
,
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
) of the country, form the five-member panel of the Election Commission. The current Chief Election Commissioner is Sikandar Sultan Raja. The General Elections 2018 were performed under the Elections Act 2017, which was passed by the National Assembly on 2 October 2017.
ECPs bureaucracy is headed by
Federal Secretary
The federal secretary (also referred to as the secretary to the Government of Pakistan) is the highest-ranking position in the Government of Pakistan, occupied by the most senior civil servant in a specific ministry or division. The secretary is t ...
ECP ( BPS-22) officer who manages the ECP Secretariat.
Function and duties
The functions and duties of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) are defined and set by the Constitution of Pakistan in Article 219, which charges the commission with the following duties:
# To prepare electoral rolls for elections to the National and Provincial Assemblies and revising such rolls annually rticle 219 (a)
# To organize and conduct election to the Senate and fill casual vacancies in a House or a Provincial Assembly rticle 219(b)
# To organize and conduct election to the Local Government institutions rticle 140(A)
# To appoint Election Tribunals. rticle 219 (c)
# To decide cases of disqualification of members of Parliament and Provincial Assemblies under rticle 63(2) and rticle 63(A) of the Constitution on receipt of reference from the Chairman or the Speaker or Head of the political party, as the case may be;
# To hold and conduct election to the office of the President as per Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan rticle 41 (3)
# To hold Referendum as and when ordered by the President. rticle 48 (6)
Autonomy and independence
The Commission retains full financial autonomy and independence from all government control. Without government interference, the commission performs its functions and conduct of nationwide general elections, as well as for the by-elections decided by the Election Commission itself. The commission also prepares polling schemes, appoints polling personnel, assigns voters and arranges for the maintenance of law and order.
In its ruling in the case ''Election Commission v. Javed Hashmi'', the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
held that "in the election matters the Election Tribunals which are to be appointed by the Chief Election Commissioner" have exclusive jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of all courts in such matters was excluded. However, this is subject to an exception when there is no legal remedy is available to an aggrieved party during the process of election or after its completion and is against an order of an election functionary which is patently illegal jurisdiction, the effect of which is to disenfranchise a candidate. In such a case, candidate can press into service Constitutional jurisdiction of the High Court. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has since then consistently followed this judgment.
Members
Transaction of business
The commission transacts its business by holding meetings. All members of the Election Commission have equal status and say in the decisions of the Commission.
Judicial review
Judicial review of the decisions of the Election Commission can be sought in the High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan if the order suffers from a jurisdictional defect or is ''mala fide''—in
bad faith
Bad faith (Latin: ''mala fides'') is a sustained form of deception which consists of entertaining or pretending to entertain one set of feelings while acting as if influenced by another."of two hearts ... a sustained form of deception which ...
—or is coram non judice, that is, performed without jurisdiction.
Budget and expenditure
The budget of the Election Commission is provided by the
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...
.
Any re-appropriation within the sanctioned budget can be done by the Chief Election Commissioner without making any reference to the Finance Division.
Funds required for preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of General Elections and by-elections are provided in lump sum by the Finance Division according to the requirements of the Election Commission.
Further distribution of funds to the various functionaries is done with the approval of the Chief Election Commissioner.Computerised electoral rolls system installed Daily Times (Pakistan), 10 September 2008. Accessed 23 July 2009.
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...