ISLAMABAD The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) said in its report, released on Tuesday, that low voter turnout, procedural irregularities, and restrictions on independent observation in two provincial constituencies in Punjab overshadowed the improved results management and lower numbers of ballots excluded from the count during the April 21 elections in 22 national and provincial assembly constituencies.
It was found that the construction of polling places, voter identification, and polling station counting were all substantially in compliance with the legislation and protocol. Nonetheless, almost 14% of the polling places that were inspected had reports of Assistant Presiding Officers (APOs) forgetting to include some conditions in the ballot issuance process.
At 19 polling places in PP-36 Wazirabad and PP-22 Chakwal-cum-Talagang, security personnel or presiding officers prevented Fafen observers from witnessing the election process, despite the fact that polling agents and accredited observers were often allowed access to the voting and counting process. The accreditation procedure for Fafen observers in PP-22 was similarly postponed until noon on election day, resulting in impromptu modifications to the scope of the observation.
On voting day, about 36% of registered voters cast ballots, which is 9% fewer than the number of voters that turned out in 18 of these constituencies on February 8th for the general elections. Notwithstanding an increase of 75,640 registered voters—37,684 men and 37,956 women—compared to the general elections, the number of votes cast by women fell by 12 percent, while the number of votes cast by males fell by 9 percent.
Observers were reportedly prohibited from performing their responsibilities at 19 polling places in two constituencies in Punjab.
steepest drop
The lowest voter participation was recorded in Lahore’s five seats, with PP-147 representing just 14% of the total, compared to 35% on February 8. Similarly, on February 8, NA-119 Lahore saw a turnout of 19% as opposed to 39%. In contrast to general elections, Gujrat and Khuzdar constituencies had a decrease in voter turnout.
When compared to the number of invalid ballots (72,472) during the general elections, the number of ballots removed from the count during the by-elections nearly halved (to 35,574), coinciding with the declining turnout.
Despite the suspension of cellular data services in the constituencies in Balochistan, Punjab, and Sindh—though KP constituencies did not report any disruption—the Election Commission of Pakistan released provisional results for every constituency by the legally mandated deadline of 10am on the following day of the election.
With the exception of PP-36 Wazirabad and PP-93 Bhakkar, the parties that prevailed in the general elections held their seats in the by-elections. A candidate supported by the PTI and an independent had prevailed in these constituencies in the general elections, but PML-N candidates emerged victorious in the by-elections. In contrast to the other four constituencies, where the margin of victory has improved, these two saw a decline in their margin of win from the general elections on February 8.
The death of candidates in four constituencies and the vacation of seats by winning candidates in nineteen constituencies made the by-elections necessary. PB-50 However, Killa Abdullah did not run for office again until after a Supreme Court decision. Out of these 24, the ECP notified the returning candidates who were unopposed in PS-80 Dadu-I and NA-207 Shaheed Benazirabad-I.
In NA-207, an independent candidate supported by the PTI filed a lawsuit to have the uncontested elections declared void, arguing that the RO had incorrectly denied his nomination.
To serve the needs of almost 6.3 million registered voters, the ECP set up 4,238 polling stations, with 935 designated for male voters, 899 for female voters, and 2,404 for both genders. In total, 13,811 polling booths were available.
In order to monitor the voting and counting procedures in 1,036 polling places across five National Assembly and seventeen provincial assembly constituencies—12 in Punjab, three in Balochistan, and two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—Fafen sent out 259 observers on election day.
This report is based on observations that 532 polling places submitted via the election day observation mobile app on Fafen’s behalf.
