People gather near a polling station in a village near Lahore May 11, 2013. PHOTO : REUTERS
The performance of returning officers and district returning officers in May 11 elections was extremely poor and complaints have been filed against judicial officers for delaying and changing results, said an analysis of Free and Fair Elections Network (FAFEN).
The election watchdog recommended separation of judicial officials from the electoral process and formation of a parliamentary panel for electoral reforms in the country.
The findings of the body show that voter turnout, according to unofficial results of 263 out of 272 National Assembly constituencies, stood at 53.4 per cent.
Regarding amendments introduced by ECP to measure the sex-disaggregated voter turnout, the FAFEN assessment said that out of 264 statements of the count received from 26 constituencies, the presiding officers at as many as two-thirds of polling stations did not fill out the specific sections of the form correctly, raising concern that ECP may not be able to provide accurate sex-disaggregated turnout.
Women barred from voting
FAFEN observers reported 15 incidents in which women were barred from voting under implicit understanding among candidates and community leaders. Most of these cases were reported in Punjab, where 10 incidents of expressed intention of men to prohibit women from voting were recorded in Khanewal, Faisalabad, Sahiwal and Kasur.
In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, women were barred from voting in four districts – Peshawar, Buner, Kohat and Lower Dir. In FATA, one such case was reported from North Waziristan agency. No cases were reported from Balochistan and Sindh.
Irregularities
According to summary data sent on May 11 and 12 by observers deployed at 6,314 polling stations, the body concluded that no significant improvement was witnessed in polling station management. Predictable irregularities continued, including interference in voting by polling officials and unauthorised people in polling booths and stations.
A total of 1,492 irregularities were reported from 1,181 of the reporting polling stations.
The statements of the count filled by many presiding officers were misleading and reflective of the lack of basic training on how to complete the document. From out of 264 statements shared by presiding officers of 26 NA constituencies, 86 documents were not filled out properly for the number of registered voters.
In 114 statements, the percentage of invalid ballots was more than 3 per cent of polled votes. In 12 cases, the invalid ballots amounted to more than 10 per cent. In one case, invalid ballots amounted to one fourth of the total polled votes.
Recommendations
FAFEN recommends significant changes and consistent enforcement of procedures related to election results management. These recommendations relate to manuals and training for election officials, processing of statements of the count and ballot account forms, consolidation of election results by returning officers, and certification of final election results by ECP.
It demands that presiding officers be held accountable for counting male and female ballots separately and recording these counts accurately.
Presiding officers must be held responsible for investigating and reporting impossible (100%) and improbable (80%) voter turnout.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 23rd, 2013.
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