LAHORE - An impressive number of people turned out to vote in the first phase of the Local Government elections in 12 districts of Punjab, FAFEN said yesterday.
Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) is a non-profit NGO knowing a commitment to “Fair Elections, Open Parliament and Good Governance in Pakistan."
In a statement issued on Sunday, it said the LB polls were relatively peaceful but marked with procedural irregularities and illegalities that continue to show a weaker grip of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the enforcement of electoral processes.
One of the most pronounced irregularities was the barrier on FAFEN’s observation of both voting and the counting processes at the polling stations despite issuance of accreditation by the ECP, the statement added.
FAFEN has released the report with the purpose of influencing improvements in the second and third phases of Local Government elections which are due on November 19 and December 5, 2015 respectively. The election in Islamabad Capital Territory is scheduled for November 30, 2015.
FAFEN’s preliminary findings suggest that 177 (71%) of the 249 polling stations across 12 districts from where the information could be acquired reported various violations of the electoral procedures, including restrictions on independent observation of voting and counting processes, breach of secrecy of voting, canvassing inside polling stations, presence of security personnel inside polling stations and incidences of interference by security and election staff in the voting processes.
The FAFEN’s observation was also curtailed due to arbitrary issuance of accreditation cards by District Returning Officers (DROs) who provided these cards to only 757 observers against permission for 1,013 by the ECP.
“The conduct of election itself is a step forward and significant in terms of deepening of democracy in the country. The campaign that preceded the Election Day was competitive and relatively peaceful, although competing political actors continued to allege interference of the provincial government in the electoral processes through use of official machinery and funds allocated for development to woo voters,” says the FAFEN.
According to the report, there has been little action by the ECP to enforce its code of conduct for political parties and contesting candidates which was promulgated well ahead of elections.
Key irregularities that FAFEN observers reported include: FAFEN observers were barred from observing the voting processes at 5.6% percent of a total of 249 polling stations from where the data could be acquired on the Election Day.
The restrictions on the observation of counting processes were wider. Observers were reported to be banned from observing counting process at 35 of the 249 polling stations from where the election day reports were gathered.
Out of a total of 249 polling stations reporting on election day, incidences of violence were reported at 14 (5.6%).
Delayed opening of polling stations was reported by 10 (4%) of polling stations from 4 districts across Punjab - Bahawalnagar, Lahore, Lodhran and Kasur ranging between 20% to 2.5% respectively.
Of 249 polling stations from where the information was collected on the election day, 177 (71.1%) were reported to have security officials present inside the premises of polling stations.
According to the reports by observers from 249 polling stations, party or candidates’ campaign material was present inside 10 (4%) polling stations.
FAFEN observers reported violation of secrecy of voting from 10.8% of the polling stations observed in 12 districts of Punjab.
They observers reported a number of incidents where candidates, political leaders, political workers, influential persons or security personnel were found persuading voters to vote in favour of a specific candidate or party.
There were 10 polling stations where candidates themselves or their party workers were asking for votes. Three of these 10 polling stations were located in Bahawalnagar, two each in Gujrat, Kasur, Lahore and one in Lodhran. An incident of a political leader - other than the candidate - requesting votes was also reported from Bahawalnagar.
Out of the total 249 polling stations from which the reports of interruption in polling were collected, seven were reported of having break during voting.