NA-236: ECP says all is well amid reports of irregularities in Karachi’s constituency

KARACHI: Amid reports of irregularities in the NA-236 constituency of Karachi, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Sindh chapter has said that the polling process held “smoothly and peacefully”.

“The polling process at the polling station in NA-236’s Abul Hasan Isfahani Road going on without any delay or interruption,” a spokesperson for the Sindh ECP said in a statement.

The spokesperson referred to the media reports that the polling process was delayed at the polling station.

The Sindh ECP spokesperson cited a returning officer as saying that the polling process in the constituency is underway peacefully.

The polling station No 176 of the constituency was not established at Shaheen School due to which voters faced trouble in casting votes.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Muzammil Qureshi demanded the ECP to take notice of the situation in his constituency.

Likewise, voters at Hashmat Memorial School complained that voters' list was not available at polling station number 153/111.

A presiding officer said those voters who have code can cast their ballots and said that he cannot issue ballot papers without a record.

Likewise, voters also complained that the presiding officer was also not present at the polling station established at Al-Noor Public School in NA-236.

Meanwhile, voting at Askrai 4 polling station of the constituency began at 4pm after an hours-long delay, according to PTI-backed candidate Alamgir Khan.

Joint election commissioner Sindh Nazar Abbas told Geo News that he inquired from the district returning officer about the irregularities in the constituency.

"The DRO says the team has not seen polling stations inactive on such a large scale," he added.

MQM-Pakistan’s Hasan Sabir, PPP’s Qureshi and Muhammad Osama Razi Khan of Jamat-e-Islami (JI) among other candidates are vied for the NA-236 seat.

According to the data of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 5,336 polling stations have been established in seven districts of Karachi. From the point of view of security, 3,038 of them are highly sensitive, 2,170 sensitive and 128 normal.

A total of 575 candidates are in the run for the 22 NA seats, and 1,406 for the 47 PA seats.

The ECP established nine dispatch centres in the city for the provision of the electoral materials. Police provided security for their transportation to the polling stations.