'X' Reports: FAFEN

Monday, 7 July 2014

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has zero success rate to-date in its 37 decided election complaints and there is no evidence that the election tribunals (ETs) are biased, says a post election report of Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen).

According to the report, the election tribunals are not delaying complaints of the PTI only, as the PML-N’s 28 out of 66 complaints are still pending in various tribunals as compared to PTI’s 21 out of 58 total complaints which are still pending.

The PML-N only had four successes in 38 decided complaints. The tribunals have de-seated two PTI and nine PML-N winners to-date.Data from a Fafen review of post-election complaint-handling undermines rigging charges. Out of 410 complaints lodged with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) 301 had been decided by May 31, 2014. Over 100 complaints are still pending.

Even if the PTI wins all of its remaining complaints, it would not gain power in Punjab or nationally. But if the PML-N loses all complaints pending against it, it will retain power both in the Centre and in Punjab.

Published in the XReports.net, on July 7th, 2014 | The News

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Monday, 13 May 2013

14-05-2013 | FAFEN
ISLAMABAD, May 13, 2013 – Based on data gathered by Free and Fair Election Network observers at polling stations showing impossible voter turnout greater than 100%, FAFEN called on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to release all polling station Statements of the Count (Form XIV) to the public on its website before certifying any final election results in any constituency.

The voter turnout was more than 100% in at least 49 polling stations out of 8,119 polling stations sampled by FAFEN across Pakistan, according to Statements of the Count delivered so far by FAFEN observers.
ECP must not include votes from these polling stations in calculations of constituency election results, and should consider re-polling in these stations.

At least 32 polling stations with greater than 100% turnout were in Punjab, 10 in Sindh, six in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one in Balochistan. The polling stations with impossible voter turnout figures included 19 female polling stations, 16 male stations and 14 combined (male and female) stations.

Voter turnout is calculated on the basis of the registered voters for each polling station as given on the ECP website http://ecp.gov.pk/PollingScheme.aspx. Polling stations included in the analysis are only those in which presiding officers accurately calculated the total number of ballots as recorded on the Statement of the Count (Form XIV).

FAFEN has recommended since 2008 that ECP should void the results from any polling station where more ballots are cast than the number of registered voters, and should investigate highly improbable cases of voter turnout, such as those greater than 80%.

Best practice for election transparency requires that polling station ballot counts and vote counts should be posted as quickly as possible on the ECP website, both as scans of the original forms and in data tables that can be scrutinized. This information was made public by ECP for the first time many months after General Election 2008, based on persistent FAFEN advocacy.

Polling Stations with Greater than 100% Voter Turnout