Fafen finds NA-171 by-poll in Rahim Yar Khan peaceful, well organised

ISLAMABAD: The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) on Friday said that despite low turnout, the by-election in NA-171 Rahim Yar Khan-III remained peaceful and well-organised amidst isolated instances of procedural irregularities mainly concerning polling day canvassing and provision of results forms to the polling agents and observers.

The Fafen said, the voter turnout dropped by 11 percent during the by-election despite a two percent increase in the registered voters from the general elections 2024.

The number of invalid votes also declined from three percent of the polled votes in GE-2024 to two percent in the by-election.

The vote share of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian’s (PPPP) increased from 20 percent in GE-2024 to 64 percent in by-election, while the share of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) declined from 43 percent to 32 percent polled votes.

The provisional consolidated statement of results of the count (Form-47) was ready before 12am on the night of the polling day.

The Fafen observed that persisting polling day canvassing and isolated instances of procedural omissions and irregularities particularly concerning the inadequate copies of result forms and lack of polling staff’s training were observed during the polling process.

Around 68 percent of the observed polling stations had party/candidate camps in their surroundings displaying banners and distributing voter chits and food. Party-supported vehicles provided voter transport at 67 percent observed polling stations.

The ballot counting process was also observed to be largely transparent and compliant with the legal and regulatory procedures.

The presiding officers provided the copies of the result of the count (Form-45) to all polling agents present during the counting process. However, the copies of ballot paper account (Form-46) were not provided to the polling agents at 43 percent of the observed polling stations.

The presiding officers did not provide the copies of Form-45 to the election observers at 14 percent observed polling stations and Form-46 at 43 percent polling stations.

Around 22 percent polling officers and 23 percent assistant presiding officers (APOs) at observed polling stations reported they did not receive training before being assigned the election duty and around 23 percent security officials did not receive the training before being deployed for the election duty.