Observers term NA-75 Daska by-polls 'generally transparent'

The independent observers of the Free and Fair Election Network have declared the by-election in Sialkot “generally transparent”, where even the voters had expressed their satisfaction in the voting process.

In a report issued on Sunday, the Fafen, a non-profit NGO, noted that by-polls in NA-75 Daska, held on April 10, “witnessed low incidences of electoral violations as procedures were generally transparent and the election staff conducted the process with care.”

This was the second time this year that voters in NA-75 had to cast their ballot to choose a winner. The last election held on February 19 was marred by controversies when polling staff disappeared and the competing political parties accused each other of election fraud.

Read more about the NA-75 Daska by-polls

But this time, observers wrote that even voters showed their satisfaction regarding the voting process and security arrangements.

Violations pertaining to procedural irregularities, mainly in voting and counting processes, were low. “On average, less than 1.5 violations per polling station were reported during re-poll as compared to 1.6 violations reported in by-election on February 19, 2019,” the report stated.

The NGO also credited the Election Commission of Pakistan for chalking out an effective security plan, by deploying officers of the Pakistan Army, Rangers and police inside and outside the polling stations. “The behaviour of security officials was also generally observed to be supportive towards voters,” the report noted.

It did add, however, that despite Pakistan being in the grip of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, there was weak enforcement of government-mandated health guidelines at 46% of the polling stations.

Commenting on the constituency, the report stated that it had registered a 9% increase in voters since the 2018 national polls.

Read more: Of community politics, voting and the NA-75 Daska by-election

Most of the new voters were women. “Due to the ECP's registration campaign for women, voter registration of women in the constituency was much higher than of men voters.”

Fafen added that the share of the two largest political parties in the constituency - the Pakistan Muslim League-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf – has increased since 2018. 

The PML-N vote share, it noted, increased from 41.23% in 2018 to 51.42% in the recent by-election, while the share of PTI also increased from 24.92% to 43.64%.

“However, the margin of victory reduced from 40,185 votes to 16,642 votes.”