Stamp of approval: Determined voters refuse to let polling officers leave before their turn

In the absence of trained polling staff, people guide each other on how to vote .

KARACHI:

At 8am on Saturday, the queue of voters outside the Defence Authority Degree College for Men in Khayaban-e-Rahat was longer than the eye could see - eager first-timers, senior citizens, housewives, students and even individuals with physical disabilities waited under the scorching sun but in high spirits.

What they didn’t expect was that the process they thought would be over in a couple of hours would take almost eight hours - if not more. From ‘stolen’ ballot papers to ‘missing’ ballot boxes to the election stamps which finally arrived at 2:30pm, there were ample reasons for the potential voters to give up halfway through the day. The residents of DHA, however, made sure that cast their vote come what may - even if it meant blocking the way of the presiding officer who only showed up when the female voters started to take matters in their own hands.

Clueless officers

The venue, which had at least 15 polling booths, had only five polling officers but none of them showed up at polling booth No140 till 5pm. Till that time, the lone assistant presiding officer dealt with all the aggravated female voters by himself as the polling agents looked on cluelessly. “The people helping the assistant presiding officer had no clue where to put the stamp or where to sign,” said Sadaf Abid. “Considering that she was putting down the wrong CNIC numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the votes are declared void.”

Voting in the open

According to the election law, it is mandatory to maintain the secrecy of the vote by allotting a secluded place for putting the stamp on the ballot. At this polling station, however, some polling booth had not designated a separate place for placing the ballot as friends and family guided each other on who to vote for.



As one clearly confused girl hovered over the bat and kite, her mother made sure she had a say in where the girl put her stamp - Sindh Assembly for the former, National Assembly for the latter. Those who had come to vote for the Jamaat-e-Islami, who pulled out from the race in the afternoon, huddled in a corner with their ballots and debated over the next best party.

The polling agents and officer, however, could not stop the clear violation of the code conduct as they had their hands full with female voters having a go at each other for cutting in lines.

High spirits

While some voters grew aggressive, others stepped up to make sure the process became somewhat smoother by assisting the polling staff. Young voters and even those who weren’t old enough took it upon themselves to make sure everybody had water and snacks. “I can’t vote but I want to help those who are making a change,” said an 11-year-old boy, holding up a bag of piping hot chicken rolls.

Volunteers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf were the only ones seen keeping people pumped up and making sure the voters didn’t leave. “A few hours of standing under the sun is nothing compared to five years of another corrupt government,” said one young voter who was standing outside the college, making sure that the elderly and female voters had space under the shade. “It’s no mystery that the missing ballot boxes were meant to demoralise the voters but as luck would have it, such stunts only made the people want to vote more.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2013.