Main parties cry foul

The Pakistan Election Commission yesterday rejected requests to extend the polling time after political parties accused authorities of deliberately delaying voting.

The PPP, PML-N, ANP and the Awami Muslim League, among other parties, had requested that the election commission consider extending the polling time due to widespread reports of the sluggish polling process.

Halfway during polling, PML-N sent a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner, seeking an extension in time by one hour.

Citing "large-scale nationwide complaints", the letter added that only "3-4 people" are being allowed to enter the polling station at one time, slowing down the process. "This is not only causing inconvenience to voters … but may also end up depriving people from their right of vote."

The central media coordinator for PML-N Muhammad Mendi said authorities were deliberately slowing down polling "everywhere in Pakistan, but mostly in the Lahore".

PPP, PTI and Awami Muslim League (AML) Chief Sheikh Rashid also requested the ECP to extend the polling time.

Voters around the country have generally been complaining that the process to cast the vote is slow, taking each person around four to five minutes in the voting booth.

Gul Zaid Chaudhary, a voter in Taxila, Punjab, said the delay was down to slow processing by polling staff. "I waited in line almost 40-45 minutes, and behind me a long line was waiting," he said.

In Lahore, at a technical college, voters were not being allowed to enter in the polling station altogether. An official said they were letting people in one by one but female voters present outside the polling station said that no one had been let in for half an hour.

Shehbaz Sharif, leader of Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N), casts his ballot at a polling station in Lahore. Photo: Reuters

Candidates are also complaining, with one of the PTI's strongest female candidates,  Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, alleging that the polling process was deliberately delayed in Sialkot.

The ECP, after deliberations, rejected the requests for an extension of one hour. In a press release, the ECP said that all those who were present at polling stations before 6:00pm would be allowed to cast their votes.