Pakistan’s election commission orders repolling in several booths amid rigging allegations

As protests rocked Pakistan amid allegations of rigging made by Imran Khan’s Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) during the general elections, the country’s election commission on Sunday (February 11) ordered re-polling in several places.

The fresh round of re-polling will be conducted on February 15 and the results will be declared on the completion of the polling process.

According to Geo News, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took the decision in response to complaints of vote snatching and vandalism of voting paraphernalia in several polling stations in Pakistan.

The general elections were held on February 8 in Pakistan and the ECP in the final stages of vote counting.

While no clear winner has emerged so far, PTI chairperson Gohar Ali Khan claimed that the party will be invited by President Arif Alvi to form government as it has secured a majority in the National Assembly.

To form government, a party must win 133 seats out 265 in the National Assembly Election to one seat was postponed after the death of a candidate. Overall, 169 seats are needed to secure a simple majority out of its total 336 seats, which include the reserved slots for women and minorities.

While Khan claims his party has won 170 seats in the National Assembly, official results say the party has got only 100 seats.

EVM should have been used: President Alvi

Meanwhile, President Alvi on Saturday said that the nation would have been spared of the delay in announcement of results if the voting had been done on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Taking a dig at the ECP, he said the commission has failed to deliver despite making lofty claims.

“Had EVMs been there today, my dear beloved Pakistan would have been spared of the crisis,” he posted on X.

“Remember ‘our’ long struggle for EVMs. EVM had paper ballots that could be counted separately by hand (like it is being done today) but it also had a simple electronic calculator/counter of each vote button pressed,” he said.

According to ECP, while PTI has won over 100 seats, Nawaz Sharif’s has bagged 72. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has won 54 seats.