Voting ended at a number of polling places in Sindh’s Ghotki, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kohat, and Punjab’s Khushab on Thursday, as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had scheduled.
Elections in 26 polling places in NA-88 (Khushab-II) will be rerun, according to a statement released by the ECP on February 10. This is because “a crowd in the returning officer’s room burned the polling material.”
#ECP pic.twitter.com/qRGNTG3b08
— Election Commission of Pakistan (OFFICIAL)🇵🇰 (@ECP_Pakistan) February 10, 2024
Additionally, it stated that because “unidentified men stole polling material” designated for specific polling places, elections in two polling places of provincial seat PS-18 (Ghotki-I) will be held again.
Furthermore, because the “polling stuff for 15 voting locations had been destroyed by terrorists,” reelection was mandated in 25 polling places in PK-90 (Kohat-I).
Today, the three constituencies held polls from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. In an update on X at 9:30 am, the ECP spokesperson verified that peaceful voting was taking place in 53 polling places throughout the three seats.
15 فروری 2024
ضلع گھوٹکی کے 2 پولنگ اسٹیشن ، ضلع خوشاب 26 اور ضلع کوہاٹ کے 25 پولنگ اسٹیشن میں دوبارہ پولنگ پر امن طریقے سے جاری ہے ۔آج ٹوٹل 53 پولنگ اسٹیشنز پر دوبارہ پولنگ ہو رہی ھے ۔پولنگ صبح 8 سے شام بجے تک بلا تعطل جاری رہے گی۔
— Spokesperson ECP (@SpokespersonECP) February 15, 2024
Khushab
Sultan Ahmad of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam—Fazl (JUI-F) is running in Khushab’s NA-88 against Muhammad Akram Niazi, an independent supported by the PTI, and Mohammad Waris of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI).
District Police Officer Tauqeer Muhammad Naeem ordered strong security measures when repolling for the NA-88 seat began in Khushab.
Zeeshan Shabbir Rana, Khushab Deputy Commissioner, examined the procedures for the reelection process last night, according to information provided on his official X account.
— Deputy Commissioner Khushab (@dckhushab) February 14, 2024
Additionally, it had declared a public holiday for the NA-88 constituency.
Ghotki
Agha Sher Zaman, the district returning officer for Ghotki, verified to Dawn.com earlier today that the procedure had started at two of the district’s PS-18 voting places.
Earlier, the ECP released the preliminary results for 186 of the 188 voting places in the constituency. 3,309 voters are registered at the two voting places where reelection is taking place.
Independent Jam Mehtab Hussain Dhar is running against Shehryar Khan Shar of the PPP and Nasir Mehmood of the JUI-F.
The ECP spokeswoman stated that “voters were seen at the voting location in a great number” in a post on X.
عام انتخابات 2024 (ری پولنگ )
پی ایس 18 گھوٹکی-I کی دو پولنگ اسٹیشنوں پر آج پولنگ کا عمل جاری ہے، ووٹرز کی بڑی تعداد ووٹ کاسٹ کرنے پولنگ اسٹشنوں پر موجود۔ #ECP pic.twitter.com/cdqOiqfAwU
— Spokesperson ECP (@SpokespersonECP) February 15, 2024
Kohat
Aftab Alam Afridi, an independent supported by the PTI, is running against Muhammad Shoaib of the JUI-F and Amjad Khan Afridi of the PPP in Kohat’s provincial seat PK-90.
Yaqoob Khan of the Awami National Party and Nazia Bibi of the JI are the other contestants.
Voting was suspended in the Darra Adamkhel tribal subdivision polling places when vote boxes were removed and vandalized during the elections on February 8.
However, Kohat Deputy Commissioner Azmatullah Wazir claims that the originally planned 25 voting places “were reduced to eight due to security reasons.”
He added that all polling places had stringent security measures in place.
There was also an announcement on February 13 from DC Wazir stating that the 25 polling places were “merged” into eight.
الیکشن کمیشن آف پاکستان کی جانب سے باقاعدہ منظوری کے بعد PK-90 میں 15 فروری 2024 کو ہونے والے ری پولنگ میں 25 پولنگ سٹیشنز کو 08 پولنگ سٹیشنز میں ضم کر کے باقاعدہ نوٹیفکیشن جاری کر دیا گیا۔ pic.twitter.com/v9sEeSiQPS
— Deputy Commissioner, Kohat (@KohatDC) February 13, 2024
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS