A report of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) disclosed on Wednesday that out of the 86,094 votes polled in the provincial assembly constituency (PS-29) won by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, thumb impressions only on 16,647 ballot papers could be verified.
The report came on the election petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s leader Syed Ghous Ali Shah who lost the provincial assembly seat in his hometown Khairpur (PS-29) to Syed Qaim Ali Shah and challenged his victory in the provincial assembly constituency before an election tribunal.
The petitioner, PML-N’s defeated candidate, alleged massive rigging in the polling in the constituency and sought verification of the thumb impressions on the ballots.
The election tribunal in Karachi headed by former judge Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani had directed Nadra to verify the thumbprints of the voters on ballot papers polled in PS-29 and submit a report.
The report said a total of 86,094 counterfoils were sent to the Nadra for the verification out of which 16,647 ballots were successfully authenticated as the finger prints affixed on the counterfoils at the time of issuance of ballot paper correctly matched with the fingerprint data of registered voters.
The report revealed that the thumb impression on 13,368 ballots could not be compared or matched through the Nadra system because the fingers prints were of very poor quality. However, it also said, 56,079 ballots could not be verified due to different reasons.
The PML-N leader had also disputed the victory of PPP’s Nawab Ali Wassan on the national assembly seat (NA-215) in Khairpur.
