The upcoming local council elections will be "unique" due to the amendments to the Decentralization Act, says Vice-Chairman of the Elections Commission, Ahmed Akram.
While speaking on RaajjeTV's "FalaSurukhee" programme on Tuesday, Akram stated that preparations for the upcoming local council elections, such as logistics, are ongoing whereas the number of eligible voters has been identified.
The local council election is scheduled to be held on April 4th, 2020.
Akram further revealed that the commission has conducted workshops and training programs to identify and prepare for the changes resulting from amendments to the Decentralization Act. Akram asserted that the commission is fully prepared for the election, stating they have prepared a "plan A, B, and C".
While highlighting that the amendments to the bill are of a large-scale, Akram expressed his anticipation for the amendments to be passed and put into effect within the next two weeks.
He went onto claim that the upcoming local council elections will be a "unique" election in comparison to elections held in the past as a direct result of the amendments made to the Decentralization Act.
The local council elections are considered the toughest, busiest and especially the most time-consuming election to conduct. With the amendments made to the Decentralization Act, an average of 3500 ballot papers will be provided for each ballot box. Then we are required to prepare a result sheet for the 187 districts. We estimate this process will take around 16 hours so we are preparing other options as well.Vice-Chairman of the Elections Commission, Ahmed Akram
Claiming that both the council and the public desire these amendments, he stated that and that once the legislation comes into effect, the districts will be redistributed, and work on the election will continue, followed by teams from the commission being dispatched around the country.
Moreover, Akram stated that election regulations have been determined and that the design of the ballot papers, plus the total number of ballot papers per box are almost finalized. Nevertheless, work can only be concluded after the amendments are approved, said Akram.
