Fafen finds procedural irregularities in Larkana by-poll.

Byline: Iftikhar A. Khan

ISLAMABAD -- The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) has pointed out procedural irregularities in Thursday's by-election held for the Sindh Assembly's constituency PS-11 (Larkana-II).

According to a Fafen report, there were also some instances of the breach of secrecy of voters' ballots inside some polling booths.

The report is based on the observation of 69 polling stations received from 21 trained observers who directly observed and reported on the election environment in and outside polling stations. They reported instances of electoral and political violence, pre-voting preparations at polling stations and voting and counting processes inside polling stations.

Each observer spent nearly one hour at each polling station in the constituency to observe polling processes.

Fafen documented instances of improbable voting at least one of the booths of 21 polling stations where an average of more than 33 votes per hour was cast at the time of observation.

According to Form 48, the Consolidated Statement of the Results of the Count, furnished by the presiding officers, Grand Democratic Alliance's candidate Moazzam Ali Abbasi emerged winner at 17 of these polling stations as compared to four such polling stations where Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) candidate Jamil Soomro secured most votes.

Report is based on the observation of 69 polling stations received from 21 observers

The improbable voting pattern was calculated on the basis of estimated time required to complete the voting process - right from the appearance of a voter before the polling officer to his/her actual casting of ballot - is 108 seconds or 1 minute and 48 seconds.

Fafen observers also reported instances of breach of secrecy of voters' ballots inside polling booths, indicating issues with the management of polling stations. Out of 230 observed polling booths, 18 instances of breach of secrecy were observed at as many booths. The breach of secrecy was due to multiple reasons, including setting up of secrecy screens in a manner not consistent with guidelines provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), voters accompanied by other persons behind secrecy screens, voters queuing up too close to the secrecy screen waiting for their turn to vote.

Equally concerning was the observation that CCTV cameras at as many as 31 polling stations were installed in a manner that they could compromise voters' secrecy guaranteed by the constitution and the law...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT