ISLAMABAD: Printing of 180 million ballot papers for general elections has been completed under security cover provided by the Pakistan Army.

An official of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) told Dawn on Tuesday that dispatch of ballot papers to constituencies was under way and around 70 per cent of the papers had already been sent.

He said the process would be completed on Wednesday.

He said the army would remain engaged in the process for the secure delivery of ballot papers to respective officers. He said the ballot papers would be handed over to all presiding officers on May 10. The papers would remain in the custody of district returning officers and returning officers concerned before that. He said that 180m ballot papers had been printed for the national and provincial assemblies.

Answering a question, the official said that according to preliminary police report, the ballot papers seized in Chakdara did not contain the names of the candidates and were being used by a political party to educate voters.

He said that 8300 service had proved to be a great success as two million people obtained information about their polling stations within 20 hours of the formal launch of the service.