Faulty stationery, untrained staff: A tale of mismanagement

Wrong election symbols, dry stamp pads, scattered votes upset voters

ISLAMABAD: A few irregularities were witnessed in several polling stations, of which most were mistakes of technical nature by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

At Monday’s local bodies polls, it was the first time that ink was provided by Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research but the D-shaped stamps failed to make proper impressions on ballot papers.

Similarly, the paper used to print voter lists and ballot papers was so thin that thumb impressions were visible on the other side of the paper as well, making it difficult for polling staff to identify names.

Some of the thumbprints will probably make it difficult for the ECP to identify voters, said one of the assistant presiding officers at a polling station in Sector I-8/3.

At UC-40’s Ward 4 in Sector I-9, the wrong election symbol for the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Pakistan (Noorani) candidate was printed.

The symbol of the Jinnah cap was printed instead of the Pakol (Chitrali Cap) on ballot papers, after which the candidate and his supporters started protesting outside the polling station 10-11. Later, additional police and rangers reached the spot and calmed the agitating public. A party member commented that the blunder by ECP is surprising and confusing for voters.

At one of the polling stations of UC-43 in Sector I-10, members of several parties were incensed at scattered votes of the area in different sectors. “I do not understand why they have transferred half of our voters to sector H-10, while some in H-11. .

Shazia Khan, sharing her experience at the F-11/3 polling station, said “There was a lot of confusion...we were sent all over the place to find our polling booth.”

Zakra, who was voting at the F-10/4 polling station, said the stamp pads were almost dry. “The fact that the stamp pads are dry makes it very difficult for the stamp to be visible on the paper. If this is the case in the morning, these stamps will probably be invisible by the afternoon,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2015.