Lahore: The polling in the by-elections on 20 seats of Punjab has ended while the counting of votes started afterwards.
Polling for the by-elections in twenty constituencies of Punjab Assembly has ended without any major clash between political parties as the by- elections were held in the tense political environment.
The polling started at 8 am and continued till 5:00 pm without any break and interruption
These Punjab Assembly constituencies fall in Rawalpindi, Khushab, Bhakkar, Faisalabad, Jhang, Shaikhupura, Lahore, Sahiwal, Multan, Lodhran, Bahawalnagar, Muzaffargarh, Layyah and Dera Ghazi Khan districts.
These seats were declared vacant due to defection of members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Around 4.58 million voters, including 2.19 million women, were eligible to exercise their right to franchise in today’s by-elections.
The Election Commission had established three thousand, one hundred thirty-one polling stations in these twenty constituencies, out of which six hundred seventy-six have been declared highly sensitive and one thousand one hundred ninety-four sensitive.
Meanwhile, a special election monitoring cell has been established at the Ministry of Interior to ensure law and order situation during by-elections in twenty constituencies of Punjab Assembly.
The cell has been established on the special direction of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for better coordination among law enforcement agencies and immediate response in case of any untoward incident during the polls.
The monitoring cell has been linked with the control centres of the provincial governments and the federal law enforcement agencies. The cell will continuously monitor law and order situation in the constituencies where elections are being held.
Punjab Rangers and Frontier Constabulary Headquarters were also in touch with the cell, which continued to function from today and till the end of the by-elections.
Provincial Election Commission Takes Notice of Scuffle and Clash
The provincial election commission had taken notice of a clash in PP-158 Lahore and PP-97 Faisalabad.
The ECP has issued instructions to the district returning officer over the clash in PP -158 Lahore in which the district returning officer has been said to review the incident and contacting to security officials.
Another scuffle had happened during the by-polls at PP 97 Faisalabad at it poling station number 72 where a ballot paper was torn apart.
Sources said that a person wanted to enter polling both along with elderly person as the polling agent prohibited him then feud broke out.
The ballot paper tore apart during a clash between the polling agent and the person coming with the elderly person, sources added.
After the incident a heavy contingent of police reached the polling station which controlled the situation.
The provincial election commission has apprised that the election body received six complains to its control room set up for today’s by-polls.
The spokesperson of the provincial ECP apprised further that these complaints were regarding scuffles between the voters in polling station and party activists.
The counting of votes on 20 seats of by-elections are underway. As many as 175 candidates are facing each other neck and neck in the by-elections.
ECP Issues Code Of Conduct For Media Regarding By-Elections
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday issued code of conduct for the media regarding the by-elections
As per the code of conduct of the ECP, the media will no publish or air story which will affect any political party and candidate negatively on its or he/she public opinion.
According to the code of conduct before any news regarding any political party or candidate should remain cautious.
The media will only air and publish results released by government through presiding officer and returning officer.
The code of conduct reads that the media will avoid any remarks regarding private life of a candidate.
