ISLAMABAD - For many candidates, the LB polls in cantonments may have been a hectic electioneering for wooing maximum voters, but a candidate unlike others got elected by securing only 11 votes thus making a history by winning on minimum votes.
Mumtaz Hussain, contesting as independent candidate won the seat of councilor in Murree Galiat by getting 11 votes against his rival candidate Dr Muhammad Arif who got five votes while contesting on ticket of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI).
According to the consolidated statement of preliminary results of cantonment board election held on April 25 issued by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Mumtaz Hussain has emerged as the only successful candidate by securing minimum votes.
 Interestingly, Ward No.1 of Murree Galiat has emerged as the only area where voters turn out was recorded maximum (94 percent) as 16 out of the total 17 registered voters took part in the polling process.
 Of the total 17 registered voters, the number of male voters is 10 and seven female voters. One voter abstained from casting his vote. The runner up candidate Dr Muhammad Humayun obtained five votes only.
 According to the results, Rehmatullah, an independent candidate from Loralai obtained 62 votes, as many as 45 votes more than the winning candidate Mumtaz Hussain obtained from Murree Galiat.
While several candidates have to pocket as many 4,000 votes for winning the seat of Councilor, Hussain had to knock the doors of only 17 voters with electoral pledges for ensuring his win. “This is really a very peculiar case. A candidate wins by securing only 11 votes? I have no words to say except expressing surprise. I will go through the ECP’s results and then share my view,” Yasir Javed, Manager Election Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) told The Nation when asked as to how can 17 voters make a ward for the election.
However, an ECP official said that the number of voters is not essential for declaring a ward or constituency citing the example of a candidate who won as MPA from Balochistan by getting few hundred votes.
According to ECP, out of the total 1.8 million registered voters in cantonment areas, as many as 6,10,816 (33 per cent) voters took part in the election including 3,66,101 male voters and 2,44,115 female voters.
As many nine out of the total 199 seats for councilors got elected unopposed according to the preliminary results issued by the ECP on Tuesday.