The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) meets at its secretariat in Islamabad today, Tuesday 10 November, to review arrangements for local government elections in the federal capital, with senior officials due to brief the commission on the security plan for polling day.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja will chair the meeting. The interior secretary, the chief commissioner of Islamabad and the inspector general of police have been invited to brief the commission on security and other arrangements, according to The News.

Preparations already complete

At a meeting on Monday 2 November, the commission was told that the procurement of election material had been completed and arrangements for printing ballot papers had been finalised. Letters about the necessary arrangements had been sent to the interior secretary, the inspector general of police and the deputy commissioner.

The chief election commissioner expressed satisfaction with the arrangements and directed that today's meeting be convened to discuss the election plan in detail. The commission says it is ready for the peaceful conduct of the polls.

The capital's previous local government system completed its term in February 2021. Since then the commission has tried to hold the mandatory election but could not do so, mainly because of legal and administrative issues, The News reported.

Polling day set for 20 December

Under the schedule announced by the commission, polling for Islamabad's local government elections will be held on Sunday 20 December 2026. Candidates were able to submit nomination papers from 2 to 6 November, scrutiny of nominations runs from 9 to 13 November, and election symbols will be allotted on 26 November. Compilation of results is scheduled for 21 to 24 December.

The ECP has appointed a district monitoring officer and 16 monitoring officers, mostly drawn from the Capital Development Authority and the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration, and ballot printing is under way, according to Particle News.

Contrasting picture elsewhere

Today's meeting comes as the commission's work elsewhere faces legal limits. The ECP announced on Thursday 5 November that the first phase of Punjab's local government elections will be held on 7 February 2027, after accepting the provincial government's request for a later date.

At the same time, the commission halted the local government election process in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until further orders, after the federal government extended the suspension of Article 140-A of the Constitution, which governs the establishment of local governments, to the remaining districts of the province.

For Islamabad, however, the process is moving ahead, and voters and local administrators should expect staged schedules and further ECP orders as polling day approaches.