LAHORE – Millions of Pakistanis are awaiting the final results of Wednesday’s general polls as the Election Commission (ECP) is yet to release an important election document – the Form 45.
Form 45 is a document which contains data of every candidate with their names as well as how many votes they received. It is signed by Returning Officers and polling staff after the vote count.
What is the RTS system and what collapsed? According to presiding officer i talked to, they were supposed to install an Android app from the Play store on their personal phone. In that app they were supposed to log in and take a photo of form 45. That photo…
— Waqas (@waqas_x) July 25, 2018
The polling agents are supposed to stamp and thumbprint it for the record. It was supposed to be sent via the Results Transmission System (RTS), but now, according to the ECP officials, votes dropped in the ballot boxes are being manually counted by presiding officers and assistants present in polling booths.
Severe irregularities observed from POs refusing to start count in some Polling Stations to POs refusing to give official results on Form 45 on various polling stations. The election process has been highly questionable and is anything but transparent. #NA247 #PS111 pic.twitter.com/zPOVLhGcf9
— M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) July 25, 2018
After the count, officers will transfer these boxes into sealed bags provided by the ECP. The bags will then handed over to the Returning Officer (RO) who will give them to the District Returning Officer (DRO).
A PPP polling agent in NA 54 was given this in place of Form 45… pic.twitter.com/OFh1OQJSPT
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) July 25, 2018
The DRO will then submit them to the ECP’s offices or storage houses: green bag for NA, white for PA and blue for unverified.
Blank Form m 45 signed by Presiding Officers. This is how results are being changed. It means number of votes will be written after he is already signed 😀 What a joke of this nation we are making !@CMShehbaz@pmln_org #MassiveRigging pic.twitter.com/4jhvTtbu0t pic.twitter.com/rII0WsLxDn
— Jahangeer Khan KK (الفُقراء) (@JahangeerKhanKK) July 26, 2018
Dozens of candidates from PML-N, PPP, MQM have complained of not receiving Form 45, even hours after the ECP’s deadline to announce the final results expired.
