Watchful eye: Watchdog points out over 700 irregularities

Canvassing by parties, candidates outside polling stations among major illegalities

ISLAMABAD: An independent election watchdog has pointed out over 700 irregularities in the Monday’s local government elections in Islamabad.

The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) on Tuesday released its preliminary report, which notes some 743 illegalities and irregularities in the polling process.

Fafen observers have reported these anomalies at 148 polling stations out of the total 640.

The network termed the government decision of not declaring a public holiday on election day as controversial saying the decision “might have kept many people from exercising their right to vote”.

“The illegalities and irregularities are primarily due to weaker mechanisms for the enforcement of electoral laws and rules on election day,” the report said.

Among persistent and glaring illegalities were campaigning and canvassing by political parties and candidates outside polling stations in disregard to the legal provision that bars them from such activity within a 200-meter radius of a polling place.

Report said party camps were set up outside 34 per cent of observed polling stations, most of which were being used to persuade voters. Voters were reported to have been given slips of their serial numbers on electoral rolls by political parties and candidates at nearly 80 per cent of the observed polling stations.

Incidents of polling agents and polling staff stamping ballot papers were reported from six percent of the observed polling stations. Observers reported presence of unauthorised persons inside more than five per cent of the observed polling stations.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd,  2015.