By IRNA
Islamabad : The three months elections campaign ended on Sunday as all major political parties, their leaders and independent candidates made last ditch efforts to reach out to the maximum number of voters.
They held public meetings, rallies, corner meetings and door to door contacts to persuade voters to cast their vote in their favour.
They also explained their policies and programs for the entire country and the respective constituencies to win the hearts and minds of the people.
Major parties have committed voters but there are many others sitting on the fence and the candidates are trying their best to muster their support.
The hectic election campaign which continued for almost two months finally ended at midnight.
Under the election rules the contesting candidates cannot continue the election campaign.
The candidates and the voters have been asked to abide by the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission for the maintenance of a peaceful atmosphere.
The polling will be held on Monday.
The political parties have put on display bill-boards, banners and posters of their leaders and candidates in cities and towns to attract the public attention.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has made all the arrangements to hold the General Elections in a free, fair and transparent manner.
The election related material has reached in all the
constituencies, while the ballot papers will be handed over to the Presiding Officers and will be transferred to the polling stations under strict security tomorrow.
For the first time the transparent ballot boxes and voter screens are being utilized to make the polling process more transparent and fair.
The electoral rolls and the location of the polling stations have been posted on the Website of the Election Commission for the greater benefit of the candidates and the voters.
In all sixty four thousand one hundred seventy six polling stations have been set up across the country. Over five hundred seventy one thousand polling staff will supervise the conduct of the polling.
About two thousand two hundred fifty candidates are in the run for the election of two hundred sixty nine general seats of National Assembly, while the election on three seats has been postponed.
About five thousand and eighty candidates are in the field for the contest of five hundred seventy general seats of the four provincial assemblies, while the election on four seats of Punjab and three of NWFP Assemblies have been postponed.
The polling will start at eight in the morning and continue without break till five in the evening, however the voters in the premises of the polling stations will be allowed to cast their votes after the closing time.
The Returning Officers after completing the counting of the votes at the polling stations will announce the results.
The Government has made all out arrangements to ensure the peace and security on the polling day so that the voters could use their right of franchise in a peaceful atmosphere. Besides civil armed forces, ninety-five battalions of army troops have been deployed to ensure the peace and tranquility.