1. The Chief Election Commissioner shall hold and conduct election to the office of President, and shall be the Returning Officer for such election.

 

2. The Chief Election Commissioner appoint Presiding Officers to preside at the meeting of the members of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and at the meetings of the members of the Provincial Assemblies.

 

3. The Chief Election Commissioner shall by public notification fix the time and place for depositing nomination papers, holding a scrutiny, making withdrawals, if any, and holding the poll, if necessary.

 

 

4. At any time before noon on the day fixed for nomination any member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or of a Provincial Assembly may nominate for election as President a person qualified for election as President by delivering to the Presiding Officer a nomination paper, signed by himself as proposer and by another member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or, as the case may be Assembly as seconder, together with a statement signed by the person nominated that he consents to the nomination:

 

Provided that no person shall subscribe, whether as proposer or as seconder, more than one nomination paper at any one election.

 

 

5. The scrutiny shall be held by the Chief Election Commissioner at the time and place fixed by him, and if after scrutiny only one person remains validly nominated, the Chief Election Commissioner shall declare that person to be elected, or if more than one person remains validly nominated, he shall announce, by public notification, the names of the persons validly nominated, to be hereinafter called the candidates.

 

6. A candidate may withdraw his candidature at any time before noon on the day fixed for this purpose by delivering a notice in writing under his hand to the Presiding Officer with whom his nomination paper has been deposited, and a candidate who has given a notice of withdrawal of his candidature under this paragraph shall not be allowed to cancel that notice.

7. If all but one of the candidates have withdrawn, that one shall be declared by the Chief Election Commissioner to be elected.

8. If there is no withdrawal, or if, after withdrawals have taken place, two or more candidates are left, the Chief Election Commissioner shall announce by public notification the names of the candidates, and their proposers and seconders, and shall proceed to hold a poll by secret ballot in accordance with the provisions of the succeeding paragraphs.

9. If a candidate whose nomination has been found to be in order dies after the time for nomination, and a report of his death is received by the Presiding Officer before the commencement of the poll, the Presiding Officer shall, upon, being satisfied of the fact of the death of the candidate, countermand the poll and report the fact to the Chief Election Commissioner, and all proceedings with reference to the election shall be commenced anew in all respects as if for a new election:

 

Provided that no further nomination shall be necessary in the case of a candidate whose nomination was valid at the time of the countermanding of the poll:

 

Provided further that no person who has under paragraph 6 of the this Schedule given notice of withdrawal of his candidature before the countermanding of the poll shall be ineligible for being nominated as a candidate for the election after such countermanding.

10. The poll shall be taken at the meetings of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) and of each Provincial Assembly, and respective Presiding Officers shall conduct the poll with the assistance of such officers as they may, with the approval of the Chief Election Commissioner, respectively appoint.

 

11. A ballot paper shall be issued to every member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), and of each Provincial Assembly, who presents himself for voting at the meeting of the members of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or, as the case may be, of the Provincial Assembly of which he is a member (hereinafter referred to as a person voting), and he shall exercise his vote personally by marking the paper in accordance with the provisions of the succeeding paragraphs.

 

12. The poll shall be secret ballot by means of ballot papers containing the names of all the candidates in alphabetical order who have not withdrawn, and person voting shall vote by placing a mark against the name of the person for whom he wishes to vote.

13. Ballot papers shall be issued from a book of ballot-papers with couterfoils, each counterfoil being numbered; and when a ballot paper is issued to a person voting his name shall be entered on the counterfoil, and the ballot paper shall be authenticated by the initials of the Presiding Officer.

 

14. A ballot paper having been marked by the person voting shall be deposited by that person in a ballot box to be placed in front of the Presiding Officer.

15. If a ballot paper is spoiled by a person voting he may return it to the Presiding Officer, who shall issue a second ballot paper, canceling the first ballot paper and marking the cancellation on the appropriate counterfoil.

16. A ballot paper shall be invalid if:-

 

(i) there is upon it any name, word or mark, by which the person voting may be identified; or

 

(ii) it does not contain the initials of the Presiding Officer; or

 

(iii) it does not contain a mark; or

 

(iv) a mark is placed against the names of two or more candidates; or

 

(v) there is any uncertainty as to the identity of the candidate against whose name the mark is placed.

 

17. After the close of the poll each Presiding Officer shall, in the presence of such of the candidates or their authorized representatives as may desire to be present, open and empty the ballot boxes and examine the ballot papers therein, rejecting any which are invalid, count the number of votes recorded for each candidate on the valid ballot papers, and communicate the number of the votes so recorded to the Chief Election.

 

18. (1) The Chief Election Commissioner shall determine the result of the election in the following manner, namely:-

 

(a) the number of votes cast in the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in favor of each candidate shall be counted;

 

(b) the number of votes cast in a Provincial Assembly in favor of each candidate shall be multiplied by the total number of seats in the Provincial Assembly for the time being having the smallest number of seats and divided by the total number of seats in the Provincial Assembly in which the votes have been cast; and

 

(c) the number of votes calculated in the manner referred to in clause (b) shall be added to the number of votes counted under clause (a).

 

Explanation: In this paragraph, "total number of seats" includes seats reserved for non-Muslims and women.

 

(2) A fraction shall be rounded off to the nearest whole.

 

19. The candidate who has obtained the largest number of votes compiled in the manner specified in paragraph 18 shall be declared by the Chief Election Commissioner to be elected.

 

20. Where at any poll any two or more candidates obtain an equal number of votes, the selection of the candidate to be elected shall be by drawing of lots.

 

21. When, after any poll, the counting of the votes has been completed, and the result of the voting determined, the Chief Election Commissioner shall forthwith announce the result to those present, and shall report the result to the Federal Government, who shall forthwith cause the result to be declared by a public notification.

 

22. The Chief Commissioner may, by public notification, with the approval of the President, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Schedule.