ISLAMABAD – The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will decide the fate of votes cast by overseas Pakistanis today after a meeting with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) officials, said spokesman of the body Nadeem Qasim.
Talking to media, he said the votes of overseas Pakistanis would be included only after ECP’s full satisfaction.
By-elections were held in 35 National and Provincial Assembly constituencies in a peaceful atmosphere. The trend of overseas voters remained positive.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/voting-begins-in-by-polls-on-35-constituencies-amid-tight-security/
The spokesman said on Sunday that the results were being compiled from different areas smoothly, adding these were being received through Result Transmission System (RTS).
He said around 95 per cent results of NA constituencies were received through RTS while 94 per cent of Punjab, 95 per cent of KP, 92 per cent of Sindh and 57 per cent of Balochistan Assembly were received through the RTS.
Form 45 of Rawalpindi constituencies were delivered to the Returning Officer concerned, he added.
This is the first time that the overseas Pakistanis were allowed to cast votes in the elections and the turnout was recorded at 83.50 percent.
Crucial Decision
For the first time in the country’s history, votes cast by overseas Pakistanis can play a pivotal and decisive role in six constituencies due to narrow victory margin.
In NA-60, Rawalpindi, PTI’s Sheikh Rashid Shafique won by a margin of 60 votes against PML-N’s Sajjad Khan who gathered 43,836 votes.
Meanwhile, in PK-7, Swat, ANP’S Waqar Ahmed Khan won by a margin of 671 votes as he received 14,096 votes while PTI’s Fazal Molaclinched 13,425 votes.
Similarly the margin in PK-3, Swat was also low as PML-N’s Sardar Khan won with a difference of 913 votes against PTI’s Sajid Ali.
Further, on PK-53, Mardan the margin of victory was just 61 votes.
The margin of victory in PP-27, Jhelum was 656 votes. Similarly, in PP-3, Attock the victory margin was as low as 227 votes implying that the decision of counting the votes cast by overseas Pakistanis could play a crucial role.
