Polling for by-elections on eight National Assembly (NA) seats and three seats of the Punjab Assembly ended amid strict security measures on Sunday (today), ARY News reported.
The polling started at 8:00 am and ended at 5:00 pm.
The government wanted to delay the by-elections for at least the next 90 days as it said that security personnel were busy in flood relief works, while there were also reports of terrorist activities during the polls.
But the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) — despite two letters from the Ministry of Interior — rejected the suggestion of delaying the by-polls and asked the relevant authorities to beef up the security.
PTI leader Bilal Ghaffar ‘attacked’
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Karachi chapter President Bilal Ghaffar is reported to have been physically assaulted in Karachi’s Malir area by unknown men during by-elections.
As per details, PTI leader Bilal Ghaffar was visiting different polling stations in Malir NA-237 when unknown miscreants manhandled him in the Bakra Piri area.
The PTI leader has been moved to a nearby hospital for first aid.
Read more: PTI’s Bilal Ghaffar assaulted during Malir by-election
Khanewal groom reaches polling station to cast a vote
As polling during the by-elections on eight NA and three Punjab Assembly seats started, a groom-to-be from Khanewal grabbed headlines for a very special reason. Ahead of his wedding, he was spotted at the polling station in PP-209 to cast his vote.
As per details, a groom-to-be along with the participants of the wedding reached polling station no 17 to cast his vote during the by-election on PP-209 Khanewal.
Talking to ARY News, the groom-to-be said he first will cast his vote in favour of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and then will leave for his wedding ceremony.
CEC urges the masses to participate in the polling process
Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja appealed to the voters to participate in the election process without fear.
The CEC, which is monitoring the polling process at eight national and three provincial assembly seats, in a message directed to immediately arrest those involved in rioting or intervention in the political process.
Almost five million people in eleven constituencies will cast their votes in high-stakes by-elections today.
Read more: Imran Khan asks masses to turn out to vote in by-elections
“Any government servant found involved in vote rigging should be arrested forthwith and the case be referred to the election commission for disciplinary action,” the ECP chief said.
Imran Khan urges masses to vote
Former prime minister (PM) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan have urged the masses to turn out to vote in all the constituencies where by-elections are being held today.
In his tweet, Imran Khan said: “This is a referendum for Haqiqi Azadi from the cabal of crooks”.
Cod of conduct violations
A number of code of conduct violations are being reported during the by-elections on eight NA and three Punjab Assembly seats.
In Multan, a voter in Multan after casting a vote in favour of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate clicked the picture of the ballot paper and shared it on social media.
In Faisalabad, during the by-election on NA-108 Faisalabad, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz voters are allegedly being allowed to take cell phones with them in the polling booth. One of the voters after giving voters in favor of PML-N shared the picture of the ballot paper.
Read more: By-elections: Code of conduct violations reported
Similarly in Mardan, ECP’s code of conduct was also violated during by-elections on NA-22 as one of the voters shared a picture of the ballot paper.
Seats
There are eight National Assembly and three Punjab Assembly sets on which the by-elections are being held today. The National Assembly constituencies are NA-22 (Mardan-III); NA-24 (Charsadda-II); NA-31 (Peshawar-V); NA-108 (Faisalabad-VIII); NA-118 (Nankana Sahib-II); NA-237 (Malir-II); NA-239, (Korangi), Karachi-I; and NA 157 (Multan-IV).
The provincial constituencies are PP-139 (Sheikhupura-V); PP-209 (Khanewal VII); and PP-241 (Bahawalnagar-V).
Arrangements finalised
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has completed its preparations for the by-polls in eight national and three provincial constituencies.
Read more: FEDERAL GOVT REQUESTS ECP TO POSTPONE BY-POLLS
In a statement, Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja said that he has written a letter to the Chief Secretaries and Inspector Generals of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces to ensure a peaceful environment and foolproof security during by-elections.
There are 2,937 polling stations in the 11 constituencies — 806 for men, 713 for women and 1,416 joint.
The total number of polling booths at the stations is 9,869, of which 5,294 are for men and 4,575 for women.
A total of 747 polling stations have been declared “highly sensitive” and 694 “sensitive”.
The commission on Saturday handed over election material to the relevant staff for the by-elections for vacant seats.
 seats and three seats of the Punjab Assembly has began on Sunday (today).){kind=link}