ISLAMABAD: The deadline for election staff to submit applications for postal ballots for the upcoming national elections will expire tomorrow, on Monday, Pakistani state media reported, citing the country’s election oversight body.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had initiated on Jan. 6 the postal ballot process for eligible individuals to get ballot papers for both national and provincial assembly elections. The regulator had set Jan. 22 as the deadline to submit applications.
The provision is specifically tailored for government officials, armed forces personnel, and individuals in public offices as well as their spouses and children, who reside away from their constituencies, to vote ahead of the polling day.
The eligibility criteria also encompass individuals in detention and those with physical disabilities, provided they hold a computerized national identity card (CNIC) with a disability logo issued by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
“The Election Commission has started the process of providing postal ballot papers to eligible individuals for the general elections for both national and provincial assemblies,” the state-run Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported on Sunday.
“Eligible voters must download a postal ballot application from the electoral authority’s website.”
However, the application should be forwarded or endorsed by the office of the voter to guard against unauthorized persons applying for postal ballot, according to the ECP.
Upon receiving an application from a voter, the returning officer is required to send a ballot paper and an envelope to the voter by post, according to the Elections Act 2017. The envelope should include a form of certificate of posting on its face, indicating the posting date, to be filled in by the relevant post office official when the voter sends it.
Once a postal ballot is received, the act says, a voter shall record their vote as prescribed. After recording, they should post the ballot paper to the relevant returning officer in the provided envelope, ensuring it reaches before the consolidation of the results.
Deadline to submit postal ballot applications for Pakistan election staff ends on Monday
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Deadline to submit postal ballot applications for Pakistan election staff ends on Monday
- The provision allows government officials, security personnel and other specified individuals to vote ahead of polling day
- Eligible individuals can obtain prescribed form from returning officers or download it from the election commission’s website
Security forces kill four militants in Pakistan’s volatile southwest, military says
- Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency
- The Balochistan government has recently established a threat assessment center to strengthen early warning, prevent ‘terrorism’ incidents
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces gunned down four militants in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday.
The operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Kalat district on reports about the presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
The “Indian-sponsored militants” were killed in an exchange of fire during the operation, while weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased, who remained actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency involving Baloch separatist groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
Pakistan accuses India of supporting these separatist militant groups and describes them as “Fitna Al-Hindustan.” New Delhi denies the allegation.
The government in Balochistan has also established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said this week.
“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur,” Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on X.
The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.
These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.
