Election Observation Press Releases

ISLAMABAD, August 28, 2012: In a major improvement, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) managed to curtail the campaigning and canvassing at polling stations and presence of unauthorized persons inside polling stations in a relatively low turnout yet peaceful by-elections in PK-70 Bannu-I held on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD, August 8, 2012: The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to forge a collaboration with political parties and civil society organizations in order to register more voters, and especially women, on Final Electoral Roll (FER) 2012. Political parties, in particular, are urged to cooperate fully with the ECP in this effort for the sake of shared, national interests.

ISLAMABAD, June 20, 2012: Heavy police presence inside polling stations and suspicious voting patterns at five polling stations marked the by-election for the PS-83 (Sanghar-VI), which compared to recent by-polls witnessed relatively better turnout, reports the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Preliminary Report on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD, May 7, 2012: Incidents of violence, heavy presence of police inside and outside polling stations, restrictions on FAFEN observation, suspicious voting patterns underlined the by-elections in PP-243 and PP-245 in Dera Ghazi Khan on Monday, said Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Preliminary By-Election Observation Report.

ISLAMABAD, April 26, 2012: People came out in lower number to vote in the by-election for a Punjab Assembly seat (PP-194) in Multan on Thursday. The seat fell vacant after Shahid Mahmood Khan resigned as MPA. He won the seat in 2008 general elections on a Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) ticket by securing 24,450 votes as the voter turnout was 28.5%. According of FAFEN’s data collected from 15 randomly selected polling stations, the turnout for this by-election went down to 21%.

ISLAMABAD, February 25, 2012: Restrictions by police and election officials on FAFEN observation, errors in new electoral rolls, interference of police in electoral matters, incidents of violence and procedural irregularities underlined the relatively low turnout by-elections in 10 national and provincial constituencies held on February 25, 2012, said Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its Preliminary By-Election Observation Report. FAFEN will release its detailed report on February 27, 2012.

ISLAMABAD, January 20, 2012: The Supreme Court ruling on January 19, 2012 to suspend all upcoming by-elections violates the fundamental rights of at least four million citizens who will be without elected representation for an undefined period, according to the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

ISLAMABAD, November 28, 2011: Incidents of violence, low turnout, suspicious voting patterns at six booths of five polling stations and procedural irregularities marked the by-election for the PP-275 constituency, Bahawalpur-IX, according to a preliminary observation report issued by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

ISLAMABAD, November 25, 2011: According to the preliminary election observation report of the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), no female voters were seen on Election Day in PK-61 (Kohistan-I), reportedly due to an informal agreement among political parties to prevent women from exercising their right to vote.

ISLAMABAD, November 22, 2011: The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) on Tuesday urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take pro-active measures against any informal agreements among candidates and other local stakeholders to prevent women from voting in the by-election for PK-61 Kohistan-1 in violation of the Constitution, election laws, and international legal obligations.