Daily Times

Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) observed an improved quality of electoral processes during the by-elections held from February 16 2021 to February 21, 2021, on five provincial and three national assembly constituencies.

However, the post-counting events in NA-75 Sialkot-IV, which prompted the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) to withhold the constituency results, overshadowed the improvements, said FAFEN in its compiled report.

According to the agency, it has deployed 220 citizen observers, 166 men and 54 women, who sent reports from 690 (or 48 percent) of the 1,429 polling stations established across the eight constituencies. These observers had the training to check 180 legal and procedural requirements for the conduct of elections. They witnessed the counting processes at 159 (or 11 percent) of the polling stations.

The observers’ initial reports suggest that an average of 1.7 legal or procedural irregularities took place per polling station across the eight constituencies. On average, 2.2 breaches of the due process occurred per polling station in PB-20 Pishin-III, 1.8 each in PS-43 Sanghar-III and PP-51 Gujranwala, 1.7 each in PS-88 Malir-II and NA-45 Kurram-I, and 1.6 each in NA-75 Sialkot-IV and PK-63 Nowshera-III. The common violations pertained to the illegal campaigning and canvassing in the polling stations’ limits, undue crowding at polling stations, and poor enforcement of COVID-19 protocols.

The management of voting and counting processes inside polling stations saw improvement during the by-elections. However, the incidents of violence outside polling stations, particularly in NA-75 Sialkot, indicate that the Election Commission needs to exercise greater control over the administrative officials. These officials are constitutionally required to assist in conducting free, fair, and transparent elections. Political competitors often indulge in violence to create fear to suppress voting and intimidate election officials from fulfilling their legal responsibilities.

While electoral and political violence incidents had subsided during the last two general elections and in-between by-elections, happenings in NA-75 warrant bold actions by the Election Commission to stop the militarization of future elections.

The firing incidents outside the polling stations in NA-75 and the overnight disappearance of presiding officers of 20 polling stations and critical election material, including ballots, resulted from the failure of police and security forces, who were responsible for the safe and prompt delivery of election material to the office of the returning officer.

To tackle situations like these, the Commission should consider exercising its powers under Section 55 of the Elections Act, 2017. It should penalize, as per law, all public servants and election officials who are found involved in obstructing polls’ impartial and fair conduct and influencing results. However, FAFEN believes that mere disciplinary action, provided under the law, against election officials and suspension or withdrawal of public servants and persons in Pakistan’s service is not proportionate to the gravity of the offences listed in Section 55(3).

Despite the violence in NA-75 Sialkot-IV, the overall quality of voting and counting processes in eight constituencies saw improvement compared to the last general election and subsequent by-elections.

The FAFEN report revealed that the party camps in close vicinity of 491 (or 71 percent) of the observed polling stations. The electoral code of conduct prohibits campaigning and canvassing in favour of any party or candidate including the setting up party camps within 400 meters of the polling stations. NA-75 Sialkot-IV had 99 polling stations with party camps in the surroundings, which is the highest among the eight constituencies. It was followed by 74 such polling stations in PK-63, 70 in PS-43, 69 in PP-51, 66 in PS-88, 57 in PB-20, 40 in NA-221, and 16 in NA-45. Moreover, observers noted political workers were persuading the voters to vote for their candidate inside 42 (six percent) polling stations. Fifty-two (eight percent) of polling stations had promotional material of various candidates and political parties inside the building.

It further stated that a common irregularity across all constituencies was the housing of multiple polling booths in a single room, making the polling stations congested.