Election 2018 to be the costliest in the country’s history

The election on July 25 will be the costliest polling exercise in the country’s history, incurring expenses more than Rs21 billion to the national exchequer.

The amount exceeds the combined expense incurred during the two previous elections in 2008 and 2013. The total cost of the 2008 election was Rs1.84 billion. The expenditure soared by 157% in 2013 when the election cost the country Rs4.73 billion. The recent election will cost the national exchequer three times more than the combined expenditure of the 2008 and 2013 elections.

Moreover, Rs21 billion is just an estimate. According to the Election Commission, the actual expenses will surface after the election. Election Commission officials blame the unprecedented rise in election-related expenses on the import of watermarked paper for ballot papers. The second reason is the increase in the amount of remuneration being given to the election staff. According to the election regulatory body, a presiding officer’s remuneration has been increased from Rs3,000 to Rs8,000. Similarly, each polling officer will receive Rs6,000 instead of Rs3,000 for performing election duty.

A ballot paper in the 2013 election. Photo: AFP

Also, Rs21 billion is an estimate of the expense that the federal budget is bearing. Expenses incurred at provincial levels have yet to be disclosed or estimated.

The breakdown

The combined cost of training polling staff, printing ballot papers, election staff’s remuneration and transport expenses is estimated to be Rs10.5 billion. The same is being paid to the armed forces for performing security duty. The army has trained and deployed 375,000 personnel. In 2008, the armed forces were paid Rs0.12 billion. In 2013, they received Rs0.76 billion for security duty.

Preparations complete

Voting will begin at 8am on Wednesday and will continue until 6pm. As many as 270 National Assembly seats and 570 seats of the four provincial assemblies are up for grabs. There are 85,307 polling stations across the country, of which 20,000 have been declared sensitive.

According to the electoral rolls, 105.96 million voters are eligible to vote. Election campaigns ended at midnight on Monday.

It is a public holiday on Wednesday.

Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/news/2018/07/election-2018-to-be-the-costliest-in-the-countrys-history/