So while the ruling PML-N won almost every seat on the night, with relatively little controversy, this was less a show of political dominance and more of a fresh set of question marks over the health of Pakistan’s democracy. A Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) report on the bye-elections also highlighted some of these problems, while mentioning a few positives, including near-unanimous respect for ballot security and secrecy. The polls were also “organized and peaceful”, with only one polling station described as “disorganized or poorly managed”.
Polling officers were also mostly seen acting professionally and by the book. But the unfortunately low turnout cannot be ignored, as such a lack of engagement only increases concern over widespread voter apathy and fundamentally undermines the legitimacy of democracy in general and these elections in particular.
However, enough polling stations saw such glaring irregularities that the results could be called into question. These include presiding officers failing to provide Form 45 counting results to polling agents or failing to display them publicly in at least 19% of locations. At 43% of polling stations, including those with Form 45 problems, presiding officers did not obtain signatures from polling agents on the result forms, which, at best, is an oversight that opens a massive door to malfeasance.
Many of the problems seen last week have occurred in almost every election over the past few decades, highlighting that federal and provincial election authorities either lack the capacity or the will to perform the most critical part of their jobs.