Pakistan regulator starts receiving appeals against acceptance, rejection of election nominations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s election oversight body has started receiving appeals from candidates against acceptance or rejection of nominations for the 2024 national elections, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday.
The Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) deadline to file nominations expired on Dec. 24, with 28,626 candidates submitting their nominations for national and provincial assembly elections. It was followed by the process of scrutiny of nominations by election officials till Dec. 30.
The process of receiving appeals from the candidates would continue till January 3 and decisions on these appeals would be made by January 10, the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“Appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers for general elections 2024 are being received from today and process will continue till Wednesday,” the report read.
A preliminary list of candidates will be displayed on January 11 and candidates would be able to withdraw their nominations by January 12, according to the ECP.
Electoral symbols will be allotted to candidates on the 13th of January and polling for general elections will be held on February 8.
According to a revised schedule issued by the ECP for reserved seats of women and non-Muslims, the last date for the scrutiny of nomination papers is January 13 and the last date for filing of appeals is January 16.
A list of candidates for reserved seats will be published on January 20 and the nominees could withdraw their papers by January 22.
A final list of contesting candidates will be released by the ECP January 23, the Radio Pakistan reported.
The ECP has also established Election Monitoring and Control Centers at provincial, divisional and district levels to register and address public complaints regarding the polls.
These control centers will maintain communication with relevant personnel and stakeholders, including returning officers and district returning officers, according to an ECP spokesperson.
People can register their complaints related to the general elections by emailing them to [email protected] or sending them via WhatsApp to 0327-5050610. 
A helpline, 111-327-000, has also been established for the convenience of complainants, initially operating from 8am till 6pm.