Fafen report on PP-52 by-polls: Isolated procedural irregularities found

ISLAMABAD: The by-election in PP-52 Sialkot-IX was marked by a slight decrease in voter turnout and a reduction in the number of invalid votes compared to the General Elections (GE) 2024 amidst isolated procedural irregularities, including disruption of counting process by police officials at a polling station.

According to Fafen observation report on by-election in PP-52 Sialkot-IX, despite a decline in turnout – from 50pc percent to 45pc – the margin of victory (i.e., the difference in votes between the winning and runner-up candidates) increased significantly, from 8,535 votes in GE-2024 to 39,684 in the by-election.

The Provisional Consolidated Statement of the Results of Count (Form-47) was finalised at approximately 1:15am, well within the legal deadline of 2:00 am.

Although the general environment around polling stations remained largely peaceful on polling day, Fafen observers documented persistent instances of illegal campaigning near polling stations, as well as isolated violations of voter identification, ballot processing and counting procedures.

While voter turnout in the by-election was lower than in GE-2024, it was slightly higher than the turnout recorded in the recent NA-213 Umerkot by-election held in April 2025.

Female voter turnout dropped from 47pc in GE-2024 to 39pc, while male turnout decreased from 53pc to 50pc in the by-election. According to Form-47, the PMLN’s vote share rose from 41pc in GE-2024 to 59pc in the by-election.

The runner-up independent candidate, backed by PTI, saw his vote share decline from 35pc to 29pc.

Fafen deployed ten trained observers, including seven men and three women, who observed voting and counting processes at 39 of the 185 polling stations established in the constituency.