169 constituencies get excluded ballots more than victory margin

ISLAMABAD: There are as many as 169 constituencies, wherein the excluded ballots are more than margin of victory in general election 2018.

According to a study conducted by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen), these include 49 constituencies of the National Assembly and 120 constituencies of the provincial assemblies.

A total of 84 constituencies in Punjab were singled out with greater margin of excluded votes than victory margin, including 58 Punjab assembly constituencies and 26 NA constituencies.

While in Sindh, 22 provincial assembly constituencies and 11 NA constituencies, this trend was pointed out: In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 24 provincial

assembly and six NA constituencies and in Balochistan, 16 provincial assembly and six NA constituencies, excluded ballots were more than margin of victory.

It also pointed out that the number of ballots excluded from count in 2002 was 88,036, it was 100948 in 2008, 190597 in 2013 general election and 248941 in 2018 elections.

Fafen noted that the increase in the number of ballots excluded from the count was a ubiquitous phenomenon observed in all the provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory.

However, in the Islamabad Capital Territory, the number of ballots excluded from the count are more than double the rejected ballots in the region in 2013 general election.