KARACHI: After a court dismissed a request from major political parties to postpone local government elections in Sindh last week, nearly 10 million people are expected to vote for their preferred candidates in fourteen districts of the southeastern province on Sunday.
Elections in other districts, including Karachi and Hyderabad, will be held in the second phase that is scheduled to take place on July 24.
The local government elections are taking place with a two-year gap after several protests and legal battles.
According to a statement issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 8,724 polling stations have been established in 14 districts of the province where more than 10.14 million registered voters are expected to participate in the exercise.
The election regulatory authority has also declared 1,985 polling stations as most sensitive, 3,448 as sensitive, and 3,291 as normal. As per the information by the ECP, 26,545 Sindh police personnel have been deployed to ensure peaceful elections. Additionally, 2,980 police and paramilitary rangers have been deployed at highly sensitive polling stations.
“The election commission has instructed the provincial administration of Sindh to ensure peaceful voting process by bringing in security personnel from other districts and deploying them where elections are taking place,” said Saeed Soomro, the ECP spokesperson in the province.
He added the election commission was also in touch with the army and rangers who had ensured it of their full cooperation.
The local government elections were delayed in the province after the federal government failed to publish results of the 2017 census, halting the delimitation process which was one of the requirements for the electoral contest.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had gone to the Sindh High Court with a plea to defer elections, saying it was important to make changes to the local government act and carry out a fresh delimitation process.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf also became party to the case and sought election postponement.
The court was informed that the provincial government had already submitted its statement before the court and all political parties had agreed to postpone these polls until the enactment of local government laws in line with Article 140-A of the constitution.
The court dismissed the petition and ordered to hold elections on scheduled time.
Millions of people expected to vote as Sindh holds local government polls in 14 districts
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Millions of people expected to vote as Sindh holds local government polls in 14 districts
- Elections are held after the Sindh High Court dismissed a petition seeking their postponement by political parties
- Local government polls are taking place in the province with two-year gap after several protests and legal battles
Pakistan approves upgrades to national ID cards in push to strengthen digital ecosystem
- The amendments allow for QR-based verification, authentication controls, biometric expansion, and card format updates
- The measures advance integrated digital governance through National Data Exchange Layer and broader digital ID ecosystem
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has notified amendments to the National Identity Card and Pakistan Origin Card rules and introduced QR-based verification and stronger fraud controls, the National Database and Regulatory Authority (NADRA) said on Tuesday, amid efforts to strengthen the country’s digital ecosystem.
The amendments modernize Pakistan’s identity document framework by legally embedding QR-based verification, strengthening authentication controls across digital services, expanding biometric recognition and updating card formats for key citizen categories.
A core reform is the statutory introduction of the Quick Response (QR) code as a defined security and verification feature, authorizing the use of “QR code or any other technological feature” in lieu of current microchip enabling NADRA to adopt evolving verification technologies without repeated rule amendments.
This QR-enabled capability directly strengthens Pakistan’s Digital ID ecosystem and supports interoperability through the National Data Exchange Layer, according to the national database regulator.
“This establishes a robust legal basis for quick and secure verification of identity credentials in both offline and online environments,” NADRA said.
“This will also enable all citizens to carry similar card instead of currently prevalent two types of national identity cards one of which is with microchip and the other without.”
Pakistani state media reported in August that the country was developing digital identities of all its citizens to enable secure and efficient payments. The measures came as part of a broader effort to digitize the economy for greater transparency.
QR-based credentials allow rapid front-end validation of identity attributes in service delivery settings, while also enabling back-end systems to confirm authenticity and status through trusted exchanges. This is expected to improve speed, transparency and consistency of identity verification across government entities and regulated sectors, reduce manual handling, and lower the risk of fraud and impersonation, according to NADRA.
The amendments also strengthen the enforcement effect of card suspension. The Rules now clarify that where a card is suspended, all verification, authentication and related services linked to that card shall stand suspended forthwith. This closes a key risk area by ensuring that once a card is suspended, it cannot continue to be used through digital verification channels or institutional authentication processes.
“The amendments also introduce standardized identification for residents of Azad Jammu and Kashmir by requiring an inscription indicating ‘Resident of Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ in the manner specified by the Authority, thereby ensuring uniform geographic identification on the document,” NADRA said.
“Overall, these amendments strengthen the legal and technological foundations of Pakistan’s identity system by enabling secure QR-based verification, reinforcing the integrity of digital authentication services, improving biometric assurance,” it said. “They also advance readiness for integrated digital governance by supporting structured interoperability through the National Data Exchange Layer and a broader Digital ID ecosystem.”
