Low voter turnout witnessed in PS-94 by-election

The polling took place under strict security measures by Rangers, police personnel

KARACHI: Voting for the by-elections on the Sindh Assembly's seat PS-94 Korangi took place on Sunday. The polling begun at 8am and continued till 5pm.

The flow of voters was slow in the morning till noon, however, it began to pick up slightly, after noon. Political parties in the frayappealed to extend the time for the polling but the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) didn't comply. Strict security measures were also taken for the duration of the voting process.

The ECP had declared all the polling stations extremely sensitive and strict security arrangements were made, with the deployment of Rangers and police personnel inside and outside the polling stations. The security officials checked the National Identity Cards (NIC) of all voters before allowing them to go inside and cast their vote.

Polling camps were also set up by different political parties at a distance from the polling stations where workers of political parties were present to guide the voters. Some political parties' polling camps had more voters in line than the others.

MQM-P, PTI, others in the run on seat of deceased candidate

Overall, the voter turnout remained extremely low as the polling staff was seen waiting for voters since morning. No votes were casted at many of the polling stations for several hours.

The facility of private transport was provided by different political parties to the voters to bring them to the polling stations.

In one of the polling stations, the first vote was cast at 8:19am, while several had only 15 to 30 votes by 1pm. The counting started at 5pm immediately after the polling stopped.

The ECP had notified 149 polling stations for the by-elections on PS-94. As many as 596 polling booths were set up, which included 298 booths for men and 298 for women.

Around 246,449 voters were registered to vote in the constituency, which included 136,808 men and 109,641 women. The seat had been vacated after the demise of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan MPA, Muhammad Wajahat.