SIALKOT: Voting for by-elections on the NA-75 (Sialkot-IV) seat in Daska Tehsil of Sialkot city came to an end at 5:00 pm on Saturday.
The polling began at 8:00 am and continued until 5:00 pm without any pause. After 5:00 pm, only those voters who were inside the polling stations at the time were allowed to cast their votes.
The vote count is reported to have started at most polling stations of the constituency.
The seat fell vacant after the demise of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MP Sahibazada Syed Iftikharul Hassan Shah in August.
Only three candidates are contesting for by-polls in the constituency, which was held under the supervision of the army and Rangers. The PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have retained their hopefuls — Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar and Ali Asjad Malhi, respectively. Khalil Sandhu, a candidate of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), is also in the run.
On Thursday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared 47 polling stations, out of a total of 360, as sensitive, directing the authorities to install over 100 surveillance cameras at these points to monitor the on-ground situation on polling day to make the conduct of the re-election transparent.
Meanwhile, the commission has announced that the presiding officers (POs) will sign Form 45 (final results) inside the polling stations in the presence of polling agents of the respective candidates before they leave the premises, while no political figure will be allowed to meet the returning officer (RO) while receiving the election results.
In February, the election process regulator had declared the by-election held February 19 as null and void, suspecting vote fraud, and ordered the government to hold re-election on the seat.
In a press statement, the ECP said it had suspected that the results of 20 polling stations in the constituency had been falsified because it received the results of the constituency with “unnecessary delay”.
A short verdict, announced at the request of PML-N candidate Iftikhar, ordered re-election in the constituency because “conducive environment was not available for the candidates and voters and the election had not been conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in a transparent manner.”
“On the day of the election, chaos was spread in the entire constituency,” it read.
FREE AND FAIR ENVIRONMENT PROVIDED:
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja on Saturday said a free and fair environment has been proved to hold a transparent election.
Talking to a private television, Raja said the commission has established special monitoring cells that would work round the clock to monitor the process and asked people to report any untoward incident directly to the control room.
He said the POs have been directed to provide the copies of Form 45 after adding their signatures and send the copies to the concerned RO via WhatsApp.
The ballot papers and other polling material will be transported to the RO’s office under the supervision of Rangers and police.
