Election officials accused of manipulating NA-130 results

ISLAMABAD: A network of non-government organisations has claimed the election officials apparently manipulated the NA-130 result in the February general elections.

In its report on Tuesday, Pattan-Coalition 38 said its audit team randomly picked up a few form-45s where turnout gap was very high. The coalition said the ECP declared ex-PM and PMLN President Nawaz Sharif winner from NA-130 Lahore, seemingly by increasing his share in polled votes on forms-45, which compelled election officials to increase overall turnout for same polling stations and eventually forcing them to change Form-47 also. The coalition alleged that this manipulation created massive discrepancies in election result forms not only within NA-130 but also provincial seats, adding the ECP did not bother to resolve discrepancies. The coalition stated turnout for shared polling stations for both national assembly and provincial assemblies has almost always been same not only in previous elections but also in most constituencies in February 2024 general elections because voters who go to polling stations almost always polled both (NA and PA) ballot papers, and claimed that any significant variance in polled votes between the two is likely to be a result of some form of manipulation and rigging. An ECP official told The News the commission would comment on the report after going through it.