RO Says Presiding Officers Tampered Daska Election Results, Calls For Repoll

Returning Officer of NA-75 Sialkot polling station has issued a statement saying that, “In view of the forgoing, prima facie, it looks like the result has been tampered by the Presiding officers and in the interest of justice it would be appropriate to hold the re-poll.”

Earlier on the by-election day, staff of 14 polling stations in Daska had gone missing along with the polling bags. For its part, the ECP had stated that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) had asked the IGP Punjab, Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner about the whereabouts of the polling staff who could not be located. It was only early in the morning of Saturday that the relevant staff re-emerged with their respective polling bags.

Police however reported that the officers were held back due to fog and hadn’t actually gone missing. As it neared late night, police officials themselves went to retrieve the officers and bring them to the election poll where both the members of PMLN and PTI were already present.

The PML-N’s candidate from NA-75, Nosheen Iftikhar, had asked the CEC to withhold results from the disputed by-election.