Tag: (FAFEN)

Islamabad, February 02, 2023 (PPI-OT):Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has called for introducing divisional quotas for seats reserved for women in the National and Provincial Assemblies to ensure the geographical representativeness of women as well as to incentivize their greater political role in the areas where women’s participation is marginal.

In disregard to the spirit of the reservation i.e. greater representativeness, the existing method of considering the entire province as a single constituency for election on the reserved seats allows the political parties to select the candidates from any areas of their choice.

This has resulted in an uneven distribution of quotas with few divisions and districts monopolizing the representation while a majority of districts and divisions remain unrepresented.

In the incumbent National Assembly, as many as five out of 29 administrative divisions across the country are over-represented in terms of allocation of the women-reserved seats, eight are represented in proportionate to their population, while 16 have no representation at all.

Currently, 57 percent of the representatives elected on seats reserved for women in the National Assembly are residents of only six cities – Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta – as per their nomination papers. Similarly, most representatives elected on women-reserved seats of the provincial assemblies in 2018 had mentioned residential addresses in the provincial capitals in their nomination papers.

As many as 59 percent of women elected on reserved seats in the Punjab Assembly hailed from Lahore, 66 percent in Sindh Assembly from Karachi, 73 percent in Balochistan Assembly from Quetta, and 50 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from Peshawar.

FAFEN proposes to amend Sections 19(2) and 19(5) of the Elections Act, 2017 in order to provide for administrative divisions as territorial constituencies in a province for the seats reserved for women under Articles 51(3) and 106(1) of the Constitution. Currently, these sections of the Elections Act, 2017 merely reproduce the constitutional provisions of Articles 51(6) (b) and 106(3) (b).

FAFEN believes that Article 51(6) (d) read with Article 34 of the Constitution provides a legislative space to the Parliament for allowance of divisional representation on reserved seats through an amendment in the Elections Act, 2017 without requiring a constitutional amendment.

While considering such a legislative proposal, the Parliament should also address the cases where the number of seats allocated to a province is less than the number of administrative divisions in the province.

The territorial constituencies within the province will also allow for the appointment of multiple Returning Officers for women-reserved seats enabling women to attend the nomination and scrutiny processes closer to their homes as Section 51(1) of the Elections Act, 2017 requires the ECP to appoint one Returning Officer for each constituency.

According to the residential addresses of the reserved-seat women legislators, as many as 105 of 136 districts that existed at the time of GE-2018 had no women representative in the National Assembly on reserved seats. Province-wise, 23 districts in Punjab, 32 in Balochistan, 30 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 20 in Sindh have no representation of women on reserved seats in the National Assembly.

For more information, contact:
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
FAFEN Representative
FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2211026
Fax: +92-51-2211047
Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188
Email: media@fafen.org
URL: www.fafen.org

Islamabad, January 27, 2023 (PPI-OT):Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) calls upon the political parties to immediately initiate a comprehensive dialogue on addressing the weaknesses in the existing legal framework for elections in the country.

Unless the political parties set aside their differences for upholding democracy and protecting its integrity through free, fair, and transparent elections, the country will continue to be embroiled in political instability having adverse effects on the already-fragile economy.

With only seven months left of the incumbent National Assembly, FAFEN considers it to be an opportune time for the political parties to make necessary changes to the electoral framework that can guarantee free, fair, transparent, and inclusive elections.

For the upcoming general elections to bring stability, FAFEN proposes the formation of a cross-chamber multi-party parliamentary committee, similar to the one set up in 2014 with representation from the Senate and the National Assembly.

Despite political fragmentation at the time, the 2014 Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms (PCER) was successful in developing a consensus on the reforms’ agenda, allowing the enactment of a unified election law.

The Elections Act, 2017 provided for relatively more autonomy to the Election Commission and introduced reforms in election processes. The Committee, however, stopped short of addressing critical systemic issues such as improving representativeness, curbing the role of money in politics, and the use of technology in elections.

The election system in Pakistan is facing emerging challenges such as the increasing role of social media that has opened up new avenues for the use of money in elections in the form of third-party financing of political campaigns including from sources prohibited by the law.

Similarly, the parties need to decide on the modus operandi for facilitating voting by overseas Pakistanis, either through postal ballot or through the reservation of special seats for Pakistanis living abroad.

Equally important will be legal measures to bind the Election Commission to scrutinize election results before the notification of the winners as a prerequisite for the integrity of the election outcome as well as to minimize the post-election litigation.

Initiating concrete measures for electoral reforms will be in consonance with the undertaking by the leaders of the incumbent coalition government in the Supreme Court during the hearing on the suo moto notice against the National Assembly Deputy Speaker’s ruling on the resolution of no-confidence against the former Prime Minister and the subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly.

On April 7, 2022, the leaderships of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan People’s Party committed before the apex court that they would introduce electoral reforms ahead of the General Elections.

However, the government has not introduced any tangible reform package in the Parliament except the legislation restoring the original provisions of the Elections Act, 2017 regarding overseas voting (Section 94) and electronic voting machines (Section 103).

FAFEN believes such a political dialogue will help reduce the political tensions in the country and will ensure the conduct of peaceful elections. Considering the elections are constitutionally due by October 11, 2023, unless a political understanding otherwise, FAFEN urges the political parties to agree on a minimum, common and absolutely-must agenda for reforms, which may include the following crucial areas that need urgent attention in addition to the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2020 subject to recommendations by the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs:

Effective Checks on Political Finance: The political parties need to build consensus on strengthening the provisions of the Elections Act, 2017 concerning the use of money in elections.

The existing checks on the election expenses are of little or no significance in the absence of i) a clear definition of the election expense specifying the duration during which an expense would be deemed as an election expense; ii) consideration of third-party financing in form of donations, material support as expenses incurred by the candidate without any condition; iii) mandatory scrutiny of candidates’ election expenses by the Election Commission; iv) any punitive consequences for falsifying or withholding information in expense returns; v) a limit for the political parties’ financing of election campaigns; and vi) legal mechanisms to regulate election expenses incurred directly by the candidates or the political parties or their supporters using online means and social media.

The proposed committee should consider strengthening the relevant sections of the Elections Act 2017 especially Sections 136 and 211, which concern the Election Commission’s action relating to election expenses by candidates and campaign finance by political parties.

Election-specific Regulation of Social Media: The absence of a legal framework for regulating online political campaigning, advertising, fund-raising, and third-party financing remains a challenge to the integrity of the election process as well as its outcome.

Several countries have been struggling with the impact of fake news, hate speech, disinformation, counterfactuals, and misrepresentations on the elections during recent years, all having consequences on the election process and voter choice.

The existing regulations and campaign expense caps do not adequately cover the campaigning and spending on social media by political actors from inside or outside the country. Without the political contenders agreeing upon the extent and means of regulations on social media, the upcoming elections may see far more complex controversies than witnessed ever before in the country’s electoral history.

Enhanced Scrutiny of Result Management: FAFEN urges the political parties to create provisions in the Elections Act, 2017 for greater control of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in managing the election results that are overseen by the officials seconded by the executive and judiciary, right from polling station to the consolidation stages.

The law should be amended to bind the Election Commission for methodical scrutiny of constituency-specific election documents and forms including the entire result trail before the final notification of the returned candidates.

Such scrutiny will help minimize post-election disputes and will reflect the spirit of the Constitution and the law that require the Election Commission to act as the custodian of the integrity of the election process and its outcome so as to ensure that the will of the people is truly translated in forming any government.

FAFEN has prepared a detailed methodology for such scrutiny based on the existing law and the rules, which will be released shortly.

Facilitating Overseas Voting: Notwithstanding the contentions on the modus operandi for overseas voting, all major political parties have at one time or another supported the idea of facilitating overseas voters in their country of residence.

Multiple Supreme Court judgments have also asked the Parliament and the Election Commission to take steps to implement a “safe, reliable, and effective” method to enable overseas voting.

A comprehensive legal and procedural framework governing the mechanics of overseas voting and the mode of their representation in the legislatures requires political agreement. In absence of a reliable technological solution, extending the right to the postal ballot to overseas Pakistani voters may be a workable idea.

Moreover, while the political parties contemplate the measures for facilitating overseas voting, they should also consider facilitating voting by internally displaced citizens who reside in other cities for work, through postal ballots.

Representativeness of Reserved Seats for Women: Currently, the reserved seats in the National and Provincial Assemblies are occupied by women from 27 percent of 136 districts of Pakistan, leaving more than two-thirds of the regions unrepresented. The distribution of provincial quotas for reserved seats among administrative divisions can help address this geographical imbalance.

For more information, contact:
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
FAFEN Representative
FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2211026
Fax: +92-51-2211047
Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188
Email: media@fafen.org
URL: www.fafen.org

Islamabad, January 19, 2023 (PPI-OT):Voters in Karachi and Hyderabad Divisions turned out variedly to elect more than 3,508 councillors in long-delayed local government elections on January 15, 2023, that remained peaceful and relatively orderly, but were tainted by allegations of rigging by major political parties over delay in the announcement of results by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The second phase of local government elections in Sindh was originally scheduled for July 24, 2022, but was delayed thrice due to floods, and later due to the unavailability of security officials to perform election duty. However, the Election Commission did not accede to the Sindh government’s request to further delay the election on the pretext of change in the number of union councils in Karachi and Hyderabad Divisions that required fresh delimitation. The Commission’s refusal led to the polls’ boycott by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP), which expressed dissatisfaction over the quality of electoral rolls and delimitation. MQMP’s boycott also appeared to have resulted in a decline in voter turnout in Karachi and urban Hyderabad.

Controversies over the quality of electoral processes do not augur well, particularly when the political parties are preparing for General Elections that are constitutionally due by October 11, 2023. Many of these controversies stem from weaknesses in the legislative framework that governs elections, which need to be rectified through wide-ranging negotiations among all political actors coming together for electoral reforms irrespective of their political differences. Unless elections lead to political stability, the process of democratization will continue to weaken and so will the public trust in democracy and its ability to improve the social and economic well-being of the people. The Election Commission, at the same time, need to open up to political actors and address their legitimate concerns through the regulatory space available to it under the Elections Act, 2017, to ensure truly “inclusive” elections, minimizing the eventualities of poll boycotts by major political parties in future.

Despite controversies and uncertainty over the conduct of elections, an impressive number of people turned to vote in local government elections in Badin, Jamshoro, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allah Yar, Thatta, and Malir Districts. However, the voter turnout remained relatively lower in Karachi Central, Karachi East, Karachi West, Karachi South, Korangi, Hyderabad, and Kemari Districts. According to Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), the turnout in the Hyderabad Division remained more than 40 percent, while in Karachi it was less than 20 percent with the exception of Malir. The turnout in Karachi and Hyderabad Divisions remained at 36 and 58 percent, respectively, in the last local government elections held in 2015.

The voting process remained orderly, unlike the previous phase when instances of overcrowding at polling stations led to untoward situations. The legal and procedural irregularities and inadequacies concerning campaigning and canvassing inside and around the polling stations and the ballot issuance process observed during the first phase persisted during the second phase as well. The Election Day environment was largely peaceful as FAFEN received only 14 reports of verbal altercations on January 15, 2023, as compared to 55 incidents of violence including some physical and armed clashes during the first phase.

Although the provisional results of the Karachi Division were publicly available within two days amidst allegations of manipulation and rigging, the consolidated results of the districts in the Hyderabad Division are still awaited. The ECP had reserved four days from the polling day for consolidation of the election results in its original notification for the second phase dated June 10, 2022. FAFEN observers noted omissions and inadequacies in the polling station result forms [Form-XI (Statement of the Count)] recurring during the second phase. They reported cases where presiding officers did not duly fill out the result forms leaving empty sections made for recording polling stations’ names, registered voters, gender-disaggregated number of votes polled, and signatures of polling officials.

FAFEN recommends ensuring stricter enforcement of the code of conduct regarding campaigning and canvassing on Election Day, setting up adequately spaced polling booths, compliance with the voter identification and ballot issuance processes, availability of female staff at female polling booths, and provision of basic facilities at the polling stations before the General Elections to improve the polling day management.

The 16 districts of Karachi and Hyderabad divisions where local government polls were held during the second phase included Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Jamshoro, Dadu, Badin, Sujawal, Thatta, Malir, Korangi Karachi, Karachi East, Karachi South, Karachi West, Karachi Central, and Kemari. A total of 4,412 seats for general members and/or Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of municipal committees, town committees, district councils, union committees, and union councils were to be filled, of which 862 were decided uncontested, while elections for 52 seats were postponed due to death of contesting candidates. In addition, no nomination papers were filed for 23 seats. As many as 18,108 candidates contested for the remaining 3,508 seats.

The ECP had set up a total of 8,706 polling stations – 1,204 male, 1,170 female, and 6,332 combined – comprising 30,399 polling booths – 15,649 male and 14,750 female – to facilitate 13,283,696 registered voters including 7,314,890 men and 5,968,806 women. Of 8,706 polling stations, 2,491 (29 percent) were declared highly sensitive and 6,215 (71 percent) sensitive.

FAFEN’s analysis is based on the observation reports received from trained and duly accredited citizen observers deployed at 343 (four percent of the total) statistically sampled polling stations including 225 combined, 61 male and 57 female polling stations. FAFEN deployed 104 observers, including 66 men and 38 women who observed the opening process at 90 polling stations, the availability of election staff and materials at the voting process at 953 polling booths, voter identification and ballot issuance processes for 1,121 voters, and counting process at 74 polling stations.

For more information, contact:
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
FAFEN Representative
FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2211026
Fax: +92-51-2211047
Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188
Email: media@fafen.org
URL: www.fafen.org

Islamabad, January 19, 2023 (PPI-OT):Voters in Karachi and Hyderabad Divisions turned out variedly to elect more than 3,508 councillors in long-delayed local government elections on January 15, 2023, that remained peaceful and relatively orderly, but were tainted by allegations of rigging by major political parties over delay in the announcement of results by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The second phase of local government elections in Sindh was originally scheduled for July 24, 2022, but was delayed thrice due to floods, and later due to the unavailability of security officials to perform election duty. However, the Election Commission did not accede to the Sindh government’s request to further delay the election on the pretext of change in the number of union councils in Karachi and Hyderabad Divisions that required fresh delimitation. The Commission’s refusal led to the polls’ boycott by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP), which expressed dissatisfaction over the quality of electoral rolls and delimitation. MQMP’s boycott also appeared to have resulted in a decline in voter turnout in Karachi and urban Hyderabad.

Controversies over the quality of electoral processes do not augur well, particularly when the political parties are preparing for General Elections that are constitutionally due by October 11, 2023. Many of these controversies stem from weaknesses in the legislative framework that governs elections, which need to be rectified through wide-ranging negotiations among all political actors coming together for electoral reforms irrespective of their political differences. Unless elections lead to political stability, the process of democratization will continue to weaken and so will the public trust in democracy and its ability to improve the social and economic well-being of the people. The Election Commission, at the same time, need to open up to political actors and address their legitimate concerns through the regulatory space available to it under the Elections Act, 2017, to ensure truly “inclusive” elections, minimizing the eventualities of poll boycotts by major political parties in future.

Despite controversies and uncertainty over the conduct of elections, an impressive number of people turned to vote in local government elections in Badin, Jamshoro, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allah Yar, Thatta, and Malir Districts. However, the voter turnout remained relatively lower in Karachi Central, Karachi East, Karachi West, Karachi South, Korangi, Hyderabad, and Kemari Districts. According to Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), the turnout in the Hyderabad Division remained more than 40 percent, while in Karachi it was less than 20 percent with the exception of Malir. The turnout in Karachi and Hyderabad Divisions remained at 36 and 58 percent, respectively, in the last local government elections held in 2015.

The voting process remained orderly, unlike the previous phase when instances of overcrowding at polling stations led to untoward situations. The legal and procedural irregularities and inadequacies concerning campaigning and canvassing inside and around the polling stations and the ballot issuance process observed during the first phase persisted during the second phase as well. The Election Day environment was largely peaceful as FAFEN received only 14 reports of verbal altercations on January 15, 2023, as compared to 55 incidents of violence including some physical and armed clashes during the first phase.

Although the provisional results of the Karachi Division were publicly available within two days amidst allegations of manipulation and rigging, the consolidated results of the districts in the Hyderabad Division are still awaited. The ECP had reserved four days from the polling day for consolidation of the election results in its original notification for the second phase dated June 10, 2022. FAFEN observers noted omissions and inadequacies in the polling station result forms [Form-XI (Statement of the Count)] recurring during the second phase. They reported cases where presiding officers did not duly fill out the result forms leaving empty sections made for recording polling stations’ names, registered voters, gender-disaggregated number of votes polled, and signatures of polling officials.

FAFEN recommends ensuring stricter enforcement of the code of conduct regarding campaigning and canvassing on Election Day, setting up adequately spaced polling booths, compliance with the voter identification and ballot issuance processes, availability of female staff at female polling booths, and provision of basic facilities at the polling stations before the General Elections to improve the polling day management.

The 16 districts of Karachi and Hyderabad divisions where local government polls were held during the second phase included Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Jamshoro, Dadu, Badin, Sujawal, Thatta, Malir, Korangi Karachi, Karachi East, Karachi South, Karachi West, Karachi Central, and Kemari. A total of 4,412 seats for general members and/or Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of municipal committees, town committees, district councils, union committees, and union councils were to be filled, of which 862 were decided uncontested, while elections for 52 seats were postponed due to death of contesting candidates. In addition, no nomination papers were filed for 23 seats. As many as 18,108 candidates contested for the remaining 3,508 seats.

The ECP had set up a total of 8,706 polling stations – 1,204 male, 1,170 female, and 6,332 combined – comprising 30,399 polling booths – 15,649 male and 14,750 female – to facilitate 13,283,696 registered voters including 7,314,890 men and 5,968,806 women. Of 8,706 polling stations, 2,491 (29 percent) were declared highly sensitive and 6,215 (71 percent) sensitive.

FAFEN’s analysis is based on the observation reports received from trained and duly accredited citizen observers deployed at 343 (four percent of the total) statistically sampled polling stations including 225 combined, 61 male and 57 female polling stations. FAFEN deployed 104 observers, including 66 men and 38 women who observed the opening process at 90 polling stations, the availability of election staff and materials at the voting process at 953 polling booths, voter identification and ballot issuance processes for 1,121 voters, and counting process at 74 polling stations.

For more information, contact:
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
FAFEN Representative
FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2211026
Fax: +92-51-2211047
Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188
Email: media@fafen.org
URL: www.fafen.org

Islamabad, October 30, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has exhorted the Election Commission to employ its constitutional and legal mandate to look into incidents of abysmally low turnout of women witnessed at more than 70 polling stations across five constituencies during the by-elections held on October 16, 2022.

Such instances of suppressed women voting at the polling station level go unnoticed as Section 9(1) of the Elections Act, 2017 empowers the Election Commission to declare a poll null and void or conduct a re-poll at all or some polling stations only when the overall turnout of women in a constituency remains below 10 percent of the total polled votes. FAFEN, however, believes that Section 9(2) empowers the Election Commission to take cognizance of such instances of suppressed women voting at the polling station level and proceed against persons who may have been involved in restraining women from voting. The section authorizes the Commission to order the filing of a complaint before a court of competent jurisdiction against the responsible persons. In addition, the Election Commission also needs to direct the District Election Commissions (DECs) to conduct special voter education campaigns for women in polling areas that recorded low female turnout in the previous general election or recent local government or by-elections as required by Section 12 (c) of the Elections Act, 2017.

At the same time, the law needs to be tightened further to ensure that the suppression of women voting at the polling station level has a legal consequence and guarantees that the political parties and contesting candidates guard against women being barred or discouraged from voting in any polling area within their respective constituencies.

FAFEN says that its recommendation has been compelled by the analysis of Form-48 (Consolidated Statements of the Results of the Count Furnished by the Presiding Officers) of 11 National and Provincial Assembly constituencies where by-elections were held. According to these forms, there were 74 female polling stations in five constituencies where the voter turnout remained below 10 percent of the registered votes. These incidents of low women voting need to be investigated by the Commission as part of its efforts to make elections more inclusive and in an effort to deter such practices in the upcoming general elections.

As many as 43 female polling stations recording a turnout below 10 percent are located in NA-31 Peshawar-V, 17 in NA-239 Korangi Karachi-I, nine in NA-24 Charsadda-II, three in NA-22 Mardan-III and two in NA-237 Malir-II. At one female polling station in NA-22 Mardan-III set up in the Government Girls High School Aslam Killi, none of the 1,348 registered voters turned out to vote on October 16. Moreover, two polling stations recorded a turnout between two percent and four percent, nine between four percent and six percent, 22 between six percent and eight percent, and 40 between eight percent and 10 percent.

For more information, contact:
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
FAFEN Representative
FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2211026
Fax: +92-51-2211047
Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188
Email: media@fafen.org
URL: www.fafen.org

Islamabad, October 17, 2022 (PPI-OT):With only 35 percent of the registered voters turning out on Election Day, the by-elections (BE-2022) in eight National Assembly and three Punjab Assembly constituencies remained peaceful with scattered instances of irregularities primarily concerning unchecked campaigning inside and around polling stations, observes Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Overall, the voter turnout remained low compared to the General Elections (GE) 2018. The male turnout declined from 57.3 percent in GE-2018 to 39.5 percent in BE-2022, while the female turnout dropped from 45.0 percent to 29.7 percent. In absolute numbers, 470,890 less voters turned out to vote as compared to 1,962,800 voters in GE-2018. The highest voter turnout (53.3 percent) was recorded in PP-209 Khanewal-VII and the lowest (14.8 percent) in NA-239 Korangi Karachi-I.

The lowest female turnout remained at 10.4 percent, recorded in NA-31 Peshawar-V, raising the need for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to look into the reasons in the spirit of section 9 of the Elections Act, 2017.

As many as four constituencies had less than 20 percent female turnout compared to one with a male turnout below 20 percent. (See annexure for the disaggregated turnout of GE-2018 and BE-2022)

The voters’ turnout remained especially abysmal in two Karachi constituencies (NA-239 Korangi Karachi-I and NA-237 Malir-II), where cumulatively 17.6 percent of the registered voters exercised their right to vote compared to 27.4 percent turnout in three Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) constituencies and 44.8 percent in six Punjab constituencies.

According to the Provisional Consolidated Statement of Results of the Count (Form-47), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates won six National Assembly, and two Punjab Assembly (PA) constituencies, Pakistan Peoples’ Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) won two National Assembly constituencies, and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) one Punjab Assembly constituency.

Women as candidates have remained a cause of concern observed by FAFEN in the recent elections. Only three of the total 118 contesting candidates of these by-elections were women, reinforcing the need for political parties to reach out to these and other marginalized segments of the population for their political education and emancipation.

Scattered irregularities were observed during the BE-2022, including the presence of unauthorized persons inside polling stations, potentially compromising the efficacy of the electoral process; unchecked campaigning and canvassing inside and outside polling stations – an irregularity that has persisted during the recent by-elections; and oversized polling stations that could have potentially led to overcrowding and disorderly polling.

FAFEN observed Election Day with 96 trained, non-partisan and accredited observers covering 364 (12 percent of the total 2,937) polling stations comprising 1,216 polling booths (12 percent of the total 10,233 booths). Each observer observed up to four polling stations during the day, including the opening processes at 94 and the counting processes at 80 polling stations.

For more information, contact:
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)
FAFEN Representative
FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad
Tel: +92-51-2211026
Fax: +92-51-2211047
Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188
Email: media@fafen.org
URL: www.fafen.org