The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its preliminary report has observed that an inadequate and weak enforcement of election day procedures were seen in the by-elections held in Sindh and Punjab on December 5.
The FAFEN report said an unusual turnout, incidents of violence, violation of code of conduct, suspicious voting patterns and pressure from police inside the polling stations reflected the weak arrangements made during the by-election.
The report said the ECP appeared highly effective in Bannu by-elections held in August 2012, its enforcement appeared to be challenged particularly in Punjab’s by-elections where district government officials, as well as police, were more active than they were required to be and present where they should not be.
The report said the presence of police influenced at least 638 of 746 (85 percent) polling stations in by-elections in Punjab.
The report added that the ECP was yet to release the official results and FAFEN observation established an unusually high turnout in five of the seven by-elections held in Punjab. The unusually high turnouts were only corroborated by suspicious voting patterns that were recorded in a sizeable number of polling stations in these constituencies, indicating the possibility that genuine voters may not had cast their votes, the reports stated.
The FAFEN observed that the female turnout was much higher than male turnout in three constituencies, PS-21, PP-133 and PP-226.
Although in most cases the difference was not significant, females turned up in lower numbers than men in other constituencies, it added.
