councils.
Although the weather was not so friendly, people in large numbers came out to cast their votes, including young, old and even many on wheelchairs and on crutches.
Barring a very few incidents of irregularities, the electoral exercise was conducted smoothly. In one incident at a polling station of Union Council 37, set up at Islamabad Model School for Girls at G-10/1, one Abdullah Moeez Shah was astonished to learn that his vote had already been polled.
Shah, who returned from the United States, could not believe his ears and eyes when he was told by the presiding officer that his vote had been polled and the impression of his thumb was shown to him. He kept asking the polling staff that if it was not him who had cast his vote, how was it done and by whom.
He along with some others, present on the occasion, agitated on this, forcing the presiding officer to arrange a re-poll for him but his vote was kept separately in an envelope. His bloc code is 507 and the vote no. is 343. This obviously was done to pacify the agitators.
It was interesting to note that Imaan Hazir, the daughter of Imran Khan’s spokesperson, Dr Shireen Mazari, voted for the PML-N and a minority candidate and defended her decision. Instead of voting for the bat (the election symbol of the PTI) she cast her vote for the PML-N’s lion.
Shireen Mazari also tweeted that her daughter was free to make her decision herself and it was a sign of being democratic. Imaan had earlier greeted PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq after he defeated PTI’s Aleem Khan recently in a by-election.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the Chief Election Commissioner, Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan was happy over the peaceful electoral exercise and praised the army, Rangers and police for their role in the maintenance of peace and order during the polling process. He also spoke highly of the local administration for its cooperation on this count.
The Election Commission Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad visited some polling stations and expressed satisfaction over the arrangements and appreciated the voters who had queued up since early morning.