Voting in by-polls for 41 national, provincial seats concludes

ISLAMABAD: Polling for the 41 National and provincial assembly seats in the four provinces and Islamabad in the by-election concluded at 5:00 PM and counting of votes is now underway, Geo News reported.

According to the spokesman of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Commission did not extend time for voting after 5:00PM at some of the polling stations where vote cast began late. The ECP spokesman said the commission did not receive any appeal from any of the provinces for extending the time.

As many as 500 candidates are in the fray in which 8.5 million voters were to elect their representatives contesting by-elections for 15 National and 26 seats of provincial assemblies.

Public holiday was declared in 33 districts where the by-polls held.

Women were not allowed to exercise their right of franchise in Lakki Marwat, Noweshera and Mianwali at the outset of the polling, however, Chief Justice Peshawar High Court, Dost Muhammad Khan took notice of the situation following which women were allowed to cast their vote in Lakki Marwat and Nowshera.

Dismissing reports of women being barred from voting in Mianwali, the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) stated that women did not leave their homes to exercise their right in the district.

Polling at two polling stations of National Assembly constituency NA-262 Qila Abdullah began after a delay of three hours as two bombs were discovered outside polling stations.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) faces a tough task of maintaining the tally of its seats in the National Assembly, which it clinched in the May 11 general elections, by retaining them in the by-polls.

Its nominees, who succeeded in more than one constituency, vacated the maximum number of seats, five, compared to all the other key political parties.

On the other hand, its main rival, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), vacated just two National Assembly seats. Thus, the PTI’s stakes are higher in the by-elections than that of PML-N’s.

The National Assembly constituencies of by-elections include NA-1 Peshawar-I, NA-5 Nowshera-I, NA-13 Swabi-II, NA-27 Lakki Marwat, NA-48 Islamabad-I, NA-68 Sargodha-V, NA-71 Mianwali-I, NA-83 Faisalabad-IX, NA-103 Hafizabad-II, NA-129 Lahore-XII, NA-177 Muzaffargarh-II, NA-235 Sanghar-II, NA-237 Thatta, NA-254 Karachi-XVI and NA-262 Killa Abdullah.

The constituencies of provincial assemblies include PP-6 Rawalpindi-VI, PP-51 Faisalabad-I, PP-118 MB Din-III, PP-123 Sialkot-III, PP-142 Lahore-VI, PP-150 Lahore-XIV, PP-161 Lahore-XXV, PP-193 Oakara-IX, PP-210 Lodhran-IV, PP-217 Khanewal-VI, PP-243 DG Khan-IV, PP-247 Rajanpur-I, PP-254 Muzaffargarh-IV, PP-289 RY Khan-V and PP-292 RY Khan-VIII from Punjab province, PS-12 Shikarpur-II, PS-64 Mirpurkhas-I, PS-95 Karachi-VII and PS-103 Karachi-XV from Sindh; PK-23 Mardan-I, PK-27 Mardan-V, PK-42 Hangu-I and PK-70 Bannu-I from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and PB-29 Nasirabad-II, PB-32 Kachhi-III and PB-44 Lasbela-I from Balochistan.