ECP record contradicts PTI’s claim of 50,000 votes’ transfer

NA-154 by-election

941 voters transferred into constituency, 975 out in over
two years after 2013 general election

ISLAMABAD: Contrary to the PTI claims about transfer of 50,000 votes in NA-154 Lodhran ahead of Dec 23 by-election, the record of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) shows only 941 votes have been transferred into and 975 votes out of the constituency after the general elections 2013 during last more than two years.

PTI chief Imran Khan has claimed that in order to defeat the PTI, the commission has transferred more than 50,000 votes into NA-154 where his party’s Jahangir Khan Tareen will contest against the PML-N’s Siddique Khan Baloch.

NA-154 is one of those four constituencies for which the PTI had been demanding the reopening of polling bags and complete scrutiny of polling record as the party believed that it was defeated through a well-planned engineered and rigged elections in 2013.

The following facts are ascertained if official ECP record of NA-154 during 2013 general elections is compared with latest record;  Voters registered in NA-154 during 2013 general elections: 370,150; Voters registered in NA-154 at present for by-elections: 419,182; Voters removed from NA-154 voting list after 2013 general elections:

Number of voters migrated out of NA-154 to other constituencies: 975; Number of voters removed from NA-154 voting list because of deaths: 2,494; Number of voters removed on account of cancellation of CNICs: 75; Number of voters removed because of blocking of CNICs: 193 Total numbers of voters removed from NA-154 voting list (adding above four figures): 3,737; Voters added to NA-154 voting list after 2013 general elections: Voters migrated to NA-154 from other constituencies: 941 Fresh voters registered in NA-154 voting list: 51, 828

Total number of voters added in NA-154 voting list: 52,769; Actual impact on NA-154 voting list: 52,769 – 3,737= 49,032 increase

If we add this net impact of 49,032 votes to total votes registered during 2013 general elections, it results into 419,182 which is the number of present voters registered in NA-154.

Basically, PTI dubbed fresh registered voters as voters transferred to NA-154 from other constituencies. NA-154 is the largest constituency in the Punjab in terms of block codes in a constituency.

Usually, youngsters do not obtain CNIC right after reaching the age of 18 years which qualifies them to obtain a CNIC. In South Punjab and in rural Sindh, there are many citizens who don’t even obtain CNIC throughout their life.

However, now because of requirement of biometric verification for obtaining a cellular SIM or for benefiting from different government programmes, CNIC is a basic requirement so people from different age brackets even from these areas made their CNIC.

Among the fresh voters in NA-154 16,472 (4,535 female) fresh voters are from age bracket of 18-20 years, 22,816 (12,273 female) fresh voters from age bracket of 21-30 years, 6,855 (5,316 female) fresh voters from age bracket of 31-40 years, 2,930 (2,100 female) fresh voters from age bracket of 41-50 years, 1,431 (1,003 female) fresh voters from age bracket of 51-60 years and 1,324 (901) fresh voters from age bracket of above 60 year.

Fresh voters among older age are mostly women. Some of the cases of older age also include those with canceled or blocked CNICs because of duplication.

The figure of addition of fresh voters in NA-154 over which the PTI has cast doubts also matches with figures of addition of fresh voters in many other Punjab constituencies where by-elections were not to be held.

The following are 30 Punjab constituencies in which, according to the ECP record, the number of registration of fresh voters after 2013 general elections is around 40,000;

NA-50: 46,203 fresh voters, NA-51: 44,897, NA-52: 40,807, NA-60 44,163, NA-61: 42,416, NA-62: 41,646, NA-63: 41,763, NA-64: 45,298, NA-67: 38,784, NA-68 39,762, NA-79: 41,127, NA-93: 38,513, NA-101: 40,252, NA-104: 42,294, NA-106: 42,791, NA-107: 43,355, NA-108: 44,762, NA-109: 39,677, NA-111: 45,914, NA-112: 46,151, NA-113: 42,925, NA-114: 44,622, NA-154: 51,828, NA-155: 44,113, NA-159: 40,943, NA-167: 44,225, NA-171: 41,363, NA-173: 43,386, NA-182: 41,128, NA-191: 39,773.