Pakistan: ECP orders re-polling in response to voting material snatching complaints
Feb 11, 2024
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 11 : The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued orders to hold re-elections at various polling places nationwide following the verification of complaints regarding the snatching and damaging of voting materials, reported by Geo News.
Having crossed through all challenging phases in conducting nationwide elections on February 8, the poll organising authority is now in the final stages of announcing vote results as the compilation process enters its 48th hour.
According to Geo News, the commission responded to complaints from different parts of the country regarding incidents of snatching and damaging voting material at various polling stations, prompting local election officials to postpone voting processes.
In a recent development, the top electoral body has scheduled re-polling at multiple polling stations on February 15. Results from these polling stations will be announced upon the completion of the re-polling event.
The list of constituencies and the number of polling stations are given below, in which re-polling was ordered, as per Geo News.
1. NA-88 Khushab-II -- Punjab
Re-polling will take place at 26 polling stations following the destruction of voting materials by crowd of outrageous people
2. PS-18 Ghotki-I --Sinh
Re-polling will be held in the constituency's two polling stations after unidentified individuals snatched voting material on February 8.
3. PK-90 Kohat-I -- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The ECP has mandated re-polling at 25 polling stations in the mentioned constituency due to damage caused to voting material by terrorists on election day.
Meanwhile, the electoral body has instructed the regional election commissioner to submit a probe report within three days regarding complaints of vandalism at a polling station in NA-242 Karachi Keamari-I-Sindh.
Previously, several parties with past parliamentary roles raised concerns about the credibility of the results following delays, despite assurances from the election commission regarding the timely release of official results.
Both the caretaker government and the top electoral body have disproved allegations of deliberate delay in compiling and releasing final results.