FAFEN PRELIMINARY OBSERVATION REPORT

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION PHASE-II FAFEN PRELIMINARY OBSERVATION REPORT Sindh and Punjab NOVEMBER 2015

1 Executive Summary Voters in twenty-six districts of Punjab and Sindh provinces went to the polls to elect their local government representatives in an election characterized by illegalities and irregularities amidst weak enforcement and monitoring by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) or its designated officials. The party-based election, however, witnessed an impressive turnout and remained largely peaceful despite fears of violence in some districts of Sindh and Punjab. The last minute cancellation of election in 81 local councils of eight districts by ECP in pursuance of the orders of the Sindh High Court (SHC) had already dampened the election environment in Sindh, with one major political party in the province dubbing the decision as 'controversial'. The ECP had to postpone the elections on the eve of polling day over irregular delimitation of these areas after Supreme Court abstained from granting a stay against the orders of SHC, observing that Election Commission is a constitutional institution having powers to make its own decisions. The second phase of the Local Government election was originally scheduled to be held in 27 districts on November 19, 2015 but the ECP had to postpone the exercise in Sanghar due to heightened political temperatures which had rung security alarm bells. Similar situation was also brewing in Badin, but ECP gave a go ahead to polling in the district where infighting between PPP factions had been showing signs of turning violent on the Election Day. Keeping in view the security environment during the first phase of election which was held on October 31, 2015 and particularly the killing of 11 people in Khairpur at a polling station, the ECP sought the assistance of Pakistan Rangers and Army to provide Election Day security. The decision worked well as the Election Day largely remained peaceful with only sporadic incidents of brawls, scuffles and frays among political workers reported from polling stations in various districts. As for facilitation of neutral observers to monitor the electoral activity during the second phase of LG election, ECP did streamline the process of accreditation of independent observers in consultation with the civil society organizations a few days before the election, the implementation remained weak. District Returning Officers in Badin, Dadu, Nausheroferoz and Attock either completely or partially denied the ECP's explicit instructions for the accreditation of FAFEN observers. The official assisting the DRO in Dadu kept a representative of a FAFEN member organization in illegal custody and threatened him with a criminal case if he persisted to seek the required number of accreditation cards. The administrative aspects of election remained weak, symptomatic of a lax grip of ECP on the officials who are deployed on election duty. FAFEN observers reported 7,887 irregularities and illegalities of electoral laws and rules from 2,108 polling stations in the two provinces from where information could be acquired on the Election Day, reinforcing the need for greater powers and authority required by ECP to hold the erring officials accountable. On average, at least four violations were reported from each polling station from where information was received. As many as 2,181 violations were reported from 527 polling stations in Sindh at an average of four per polling station while 5,706 violations were reported from 1,581 polling stations in Punjab at a similar average. Ironically, presiding officers at less than a third (30.5%) of the observed polling stations reported that any representative of ECP or the Returning Officer had visited through the day for monitoring the quality of the polling process. Among persistent and glaring illegalities were campaigning and canvassing by political parties and candidates outside polling stations in complete disregard of the legal provision that bars them from such activity within a 200 meters radius of a polling place. Observers reported this illegal activity from outside around 30 percent of polling stations in both provinces. In Sindh, this violation was reported from 31.5 percent of the observed polling station, while observers in Punjab reported this violation from 29 percent of observed polling stations. Equally alarming has been the excessive use of money as candidates or their workers were seen bringing voters on paid transportation to around 41.4 percent of polling

2 stations in Sindh and 46 percent polling stations in Punjab. The constitutional right to secret ballot was reported to have been compromised at around one percent of polling stations in both Sindh and Punjab, where polling agents, polling officials and other unauthorized persons were observed to be accompanying voters behind secrecy screens. Voters were reported to have been given slip of their serial number on electoral rolls by the candidates or party workers at nearly 26.2 percent of the polling stations in Sindh and 25 percent in Punjab, in violation of the ECP's Code of Conduct. Incidents of polling agents and polling staff stamping ballot papers on behalf of voters were reported from 3.6 percent of the polling stations observed in Sindh and eight percent in Punjab. Observers reported presence of unauthorized persons inside more than one-fifth of the observed polling stations in Sindh and 17 percent in Punjab. These unauthorized persons included government officials, bodyguards of candidates, local influential and political leaders. Many of the irregularities and illegalities at polling stations are generally attributed to the lack of training of the seconded staff performing election duty. ECP had arranged adequate training of presiding officers performing duty in second phase of LG election. Almost 96 percent of presiding officers in Punjab and 93 percent in Sindh told observers they had attended the ECP training. However, the training did not result into any major improvement in the voter processing as defined by the law. At a quarter of Punjab and one fifth of Sindh's observed polling stations (25% and 19%, respectively), polling staff was reported to not have been filling out the counterfoils when issuing the ballot papers to voters. At four percent of the total observed polling stations in Sindh, assistant presiding officers were observed to not have been signing and stamping the back of the ballot papers issued to voters in contravention of the defined rules. In Punjab, however, this irregularity was reported from only one percent of the observed polling stations. The election staff performing duty at many polling stations lacked some crucial documents necessary for the smooth voting operations. At 15.6 percent of polling stations observed in Sindh, presiding officers said they did not have the polling scheme, while the a similar percentage of presiding officers reported missing polling schemes in Punjab as well. Unavailability of polling schemes at polling stations causes unnecessary difficulties for both the voters and the staff in ascertaining at which polling station a voter had to go to poll his or her voter. At more than 15 percent of the observed polling stations in Sindh, one or more voters were turned away because their name was not on the electoral roll. This percentage was even higher in Punjab where FAFEN observers reported that one or more voters were turned away from 20 percent of the observed polling stations because their name was not on the electoral roll. Although only one polling station in Paikhel area of Mianwali reported bar on women voting, there were some factors that could have potentially undermined the participation of women voters in voting process in both provinces. The deployment of male staff at 35 percent of the observed female polling stations in Sindh and presence of unauthorized men at 6.5 percent of the observed female polling stations might just have kept many women away in a culture of gender segregation. These factors, though lower in terms of proportion, were observed in Punjab as well where 12 percent polling stations each reported deployment of male staff for processing women voters and presence of unauthorized men inside female polling stations. The purpose of this preliminary report is to highlight weaknesses of the electoral processes and practices indicated by FAFEN observation on the Election Day in an effort to improve election management for the third phase of the local government election due on December 5, 2015. A detailed report on the quality of the local government election will be released after the completion of the third phase. Findings included in this report are preliminary, and therefore, must not be generalized beyond their scope. At best, they are indicative of persistent electoral illegalities irregularities that are witnessed in all election, reflecting ECP's weak capacity to enforce election laws and Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Contesting Candidates.

3 Background The local government election, in phases, are being held in pursuance of Article 140A of the Constitution and on the orders of the Supreme Court passed in April 2015. After the expiry of the 2000 local government system in December 2009, political parties had been procrastinating on conducting the local government election despite the Article 140A and Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment Act 2010, which devolved legislative powers to provinces in 49 subjects. Article 140-A of the Constitution requires all provinces to legislate and hold local government election in their respective provinces to devolve political, administrative, and financial responsibility and authority to the districts. Article 140A (2) empowers Election Commission to hold these election. However, with little interest of most political parties in Sindh other than MQM in decentralization, the people continued to be deprived of their right to local level elected institutions for more than six years. On MQM's pressure, the Sindh government enacted Sindh People's Local Government Ordinance in 2012 and later adopted it as an Act by the provincial assembly, only to be repealed months later following protests by particularly Sindhi nationalist parties which rejected it as a power-sharing deal between MQM and PPP that compromised the interest of the Sindhi-speaking populace. It was only after the general election in 2013 and on the directions of the apex court that the Sindh government shared the Sindh Local Government Bill with electorally significant political parties in the province and a six-member ministerial committee. The Sindh Local Government Bill was enacted it as an act after a limited debate in the Sindh Assembly when opposition parties walked out of the House protesting that their amendments to the bill were not considered by the government. The SLGA had undergone multiple amendments since then. Three amendments were passed by the provincial assembly in 2013 while the Governor issued two ordinances to amend the law. However, a major part of the third amendment was struck down by the Sindh High Court in its ruling dated December 26, 2013, which termed it as unconstitutional. The Sindh Department for Local Government, Rural Development and Housing Town Planning issued rules governing the conduct of local government election in November 2013, but due to multiple amendments and directions of the superior courts on various aspects of the law, the rules were not finalized until days before announcement of the schedule for the first phase of the election. According to media reports, ECP had requested the Sindh government to immediately furnish updated local government election rules in the first week of September 2015, indicating that they were still being finalized. On the legislative front, the situation in Punjab was not any different. Punjab had done away with Punjab Local The local government election, in phases, are being held in pursuance of Article 140A of the Constitution. Governments Ordinance, 2001 (XIII of 2001) on August 23, 2013 when the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Local Government Act, 2013 (XVIII of 2013). The new legislation was largely modelled on Punjab Local Governments Ordinance 1979, though some provisions from Punjab Local Governments Ordinance, 2001 were also incorporated. It introduces several levels of local governments including union councils, municipal committees, municipal corporations and Metropolitan Corporation. However, the law has not devolved any administrative office to the district level, vitiating the spirit of the article 140-A of the constitution. Although Punjab enacted the Punjab Local Government Act (PLGA) in September 2013, election continued to be delayed due to legal wrangling and challenges that arose as a result of Article 140A (2) which empowered ECP to conduct these election. The Punjab government initially agreed to hold the election in December 2013, but ECP termed the timeline unfeasible and sought further time for it to be prepared for these election. Since then, the timelines were revised several times until the Supreme Court finally asserted in

4 April 2015 and ordered that there be no further delay in the local election. There have been six amendments to the PLGA since 2013. The seventh amendment was introduced shortly before the first phase of the election but was not passed by the Punjab Assembly. Despite a general disinterest of political parties in decentralization, the local government election in the two provinces attracted all shades of parties, which took part in the contest. PPPP, MQM, PTI, JUI-F, Awami Tehreek, PML-Q, Awami Workers Party (AWP), Pakistan Awami Tehrik (PAT), Sindh United Party (SUP) and Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party (STPP) have pitched candidates at various scales. The scale of second phase of local government election in Sindh District Council 43 639 6 Municipal Corporation Postponed Municipal Committee Postponed Election Held Election Postponed Partial Election Town Committee Union Councils Union Councils Wards Wards Postponed 6% 96 142 0% 34% 99 Postponed 16% 277 535 was larger than that of the first phase as election took place for 688 union councils in 14 district councils, 96 union committees of one Municipal Corporation, 277 Wards in 17 Municipal Committees and 535 Wards in 83 Town Committees. These numbers have taken into account the local councils where elections were postponed. The voters directly elected general councilors, members of district council from union council and member of ward in town committee and municipal committee and joint candidates for chairmen and vice chairmen of union council, getting three ballot papers. Members on reserved seats for women, peasant/workers, minorities and youth will be filled through indirect election by directly elected members of union councils. The indirect election may have helped in making the voting process more convenient for the voters, but it compromised mainstreaming and inclusion of marginalized classes through electoral politics, which is central to the spirit of democracy. In Punjab, the second phase election was held in 5,970 wards of 995 union councils in District Councils, 642 wards of 107 union councils in Municipal Corporations and 1,297 wards of 64 Municipal Committees in 12 districts. However, the voters were directly electing only two seats general members for wards and joint candidates for chairmen and vice chairmen of union councils, and therefore, getting two ballot papers. The two reserved seats for women and one each for peasant/workers, minorities and youth will be filled through indirect election by eight directly elected members of the Union Councils. Number of Observers in Sindh by District Badin Total Observer 47 37 17 Dadu Total Observer 47 33 14

5 The following table shows the details of local councils where election was held: District UCs of District Council UCs of Municipal Corporation Total UCs No. of Municipal Committees Wards in Municipal Committees Attock 71-71 6 77 Jhelum 44-44 5 111 Mianwali 51-51 7 109 Sargodha 164 22 186 6 89 Chiniot 39-39 4 82 Toba Tek Singh 85-85 4 118 Gujranwala 93 73 166 7 155 Hafizabad 46-46 4 94 Mandi Bahauddin 80-80 3 62 Sheikhupura 99-99 10 253 Khanewal 135-135 6 114 Sahiwal 88 12 100 2 33 Total Observer 78 Total Observer Hyderabad 29 Jamshoro 48 30 18 11 Badin 47 37 17

5 Scope and Methodology of FAFEN Observation FAFEN's methodology is aimed at systematic documentation of procedural irregularities in electoral process through direct observation in order to yield objective, non-partisan, independent and evidence-based analytical reports on the quality of voting, counting and result management processes. The evidence yields recommendations for reforms and improvement in quality of future election. FAFEN's goal is to enable citizens and candidates to vote and contest freely without any inducement and fear, guarantee equal representation and strengthen democracy in Pakistan by striving for transparent and accountable election system. The observation is conducted in strict compliance with the ECP's Code of Conduct for Observers and FAFEN's own code, which requires observers to be non-partisan, autonomous, independent and accurate in their observations. All observers are required to sign a legal undertaking about their independence and non-partisanship before being incorporated for observation. Furthermore, observers may also be summoned as witnesses in any administrative and judicial proceedings. After the completion of the first phase of local government elections in Sindh and Punjab, ECP invited several civil society organizations including FAFEN to streamline the process of accreditation of domestic observers. ECP empathized with the issues raised by the civil society organizations and finalized Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to encourage independent observation as well as to improve the process of accreditation. According to this SOP, all domestic observer organizations are required to the ECP for accreditation at least 20 days prior to election; ensure that observers have their accreditation cards signed by the Presiding Officers of the polling stations they observe; and provide an affidavit/undertaking by the heads of these organizations about security clearance of all observers. Additionally, ECP has also instructed all the accreditation cards to be returned to ECP as proof that the polling stations were indeed observed. FAFEN included all ECP instructions in its training manuals for observers for strict adherence. FAFEN observers are volunteer citizens of Pakistan who are trained at a day-long training session which exhaustively covers laws and rules that deal with voting, counting and consolidation processes. The observers are provided checklists based on electoral laws and rules to ensure that observations are documented uniformly, minimizing subjectivity and enhancing accuracy. Moreover, observers are barred from talking to media in line with the ECP Code. Only authorized personnel from FAFEN are allowed to speak to media. All observers were instructed to remain impartial, non- Dadu 47 Hyderabad 78 Jamshoro 29 33 14 48 30 18 11

7 partisan, independent and autonomous in observing elections as their work is crucial to improving the quality of future elections. FAFEN actually planned to deploy 606 observers 428 male and 178 female to observe 2,009 polling stations located in 465 union Sr. No. 1 District Shaheed Benazirabad The following table shows the number of observers planned to be deployed and actually deployed Deployment in Sindh Planned Actual Male Female Total Deployment 35 17 52 52 2 Badin 37 17 54 0 3 Mirpurkhas 45 12 57 57 4 Tharparkar 40 3 43 43 5 Umerkot 30 8 38 38 6 Naushero Feroz 47 17 64 47 7 Dadu 33 14 47 5 8 Jamshoro 18 11 29 29 9 Hyderabad 48 30 78 78 10 Tando Muhammad 19 8 27 27 Khan 11 Tando Allahyar 18 9 27 27 12 Sujawal 17 14 31 31 13 Matiari 22 8 30 30 14 Thatta 19 10 29 29 Total 428 178 606 493 Sr. No. District Deployment in Punjab Total Planned Observers Actual Deployment Male Female Total 1 Jhelum 19 20 39 39 2 Sheikhupura 86 16 102 102 3 Attock 35 13 48 22 4 Sargodha 96 19 115 115 5 Chiniot 16 11 27 27 6 Toba Tek Singh 43 25 68 68 7 Sahiwal 79 38 117 117 8 Mandi Bahauddin 37 26 63 63 9 Khanewal 57 30 87 87 10 Hafizabad 30 14 44 44 11 Gujranwala 70 40 110 110 12 Mianwali 32 19 51 51 Total 636 286 922 896 Matiari 30 Mirpurkhas 57 Naushero Feroz 78 22 8 45 12 48 30

8 councils of 14 District Councils and one Municipal Corporation, 923 Wards in 100 Town Committees and 23 Municipal Committees and to be established in these districts. However, the scale of observation had to be curtailed due to non-provision of accreditation cards in Badin and partial provision in Naushero Feroz and Dadu. Each observer was required to observe at least four polling stations in every sampled union council/committee and one in each ward and spend approximately 45 to 60 minutes at each polling station to collect information and document his/her findings on the standardized checklists. Each observer was to observe counting at one polling station as well. Each observer was to document his/her observation at three levels polling environment outside polling stations, voting processes inside polling stations and voting environment in each booth of a polling station. However, FAFEN could only deploy 493 observers due to non-provision of accreditation cards by DROs in Badin and Dadu and 896 in Punjab due to accreditation issues in Attock. To complement its direct observation, FAFEN set up a call center where 90 agents collected information from observers throughout Election Day. In addition, a media monitoring cell was also set up. This preliminary report is based on the information collected from the observers as well as media monitoring. However, both information sources are classified and analyzed separately. Shaheed Benazirabad 52 Sujawal 31 Tando Allahyar 27 35 17 17 14 18 9

9 Major Observation Findings 1. Data Deficiencies Unlike the first phase of the local government elections, the ECP did not provide any consolidated data of the number of contestants vying for various seats in Sindh. Similarly, data of seats where candidates have been returned unopposed was not shared with public. Although it is a local level election where most constituents are generally familiar with candidates in their areas, provision of accurate data and statistics is the responsibility of the ECP in order to ensure an informed public discourse on various aspects of an electoral process. While polling schemes were issued, the ECP did not provide a consolidated statement of polling stations to be established by district. The consolidation of polling schemes by district by union council/committee/ward in multiple formats could not be done for risk of inaccuracies. However, ECP has furnished similar data for Punjab. Like the first phase, the second phase of local government elections was also organized in 12 of the 36 districts of the province for 9,011 constituencies. The process involved direct elections for 7,909 general and 1,102 Chairmen and Vice Chairmen seats. Among the general seats contested, 6,612 fall in 1,102 union councils, while the rest i.e. 1,297 constitute the prescribed general seats in as many as 64 municipal committees. For the 9,011 seats, 31,930 candidates had their nominations accepted. A majority of these candidates i.e. 17,953 were contesting for 5,970 general seats of 995 union councils in district councils while 2,299 candidates were in the race for 642 general seats of 107 union councils in Municipal Corporation. Similarly, 6,654 candidates were validly nominated for seats in 1,297 wards in 64 municipal committees. In addition to the general seats, direct elections for chairmen and vice chairmen of all union councils were organized on a joint candidature basis. In effect, elections were held for the combined candidature for both chairmen and vice chairmen for all 1,102 union councils. The chairmen and vice chairmen of municipal committees, unlike union councils, will be elected indirectly by their respective directly elected general members and other members indirectly elected on reserved seats for women, workers, youth and technocrats. 4,493 Candidates (joint candidature) Union Councils in District Councils 995 Chairmen and Vice Chairmen Seats 531 Candidates (joint candidature) Union Councils in Municipal Corporations 107 Chairmen and Vice Chairmen Seats Tando Muhammad Khan 27 19 8 Tharparkar 43 40 3

10 The 1,102 chairmen/vice chairmen joint constituencies for as many union councils were contested by 5,024 joint candidates. Of these, 4,493 contested for 995 union councils of District Councils and 107 were validly nominated for 531 union councils in Municipal Corporations. a. Unopposed Returned Candidates A significant number of the constituencies i.e. 921 at various tiers returned candidates unopposed. Of these, chairmen and vice chairmen of 27 union councils were returned without any contest. 807 Union Councils in District Councils General seats 22 29 5 Union Councils in Municipal Corporations 58 - Municipal Committees Chairman/vice chairmen seats unopposed In addition, a total of 894 candidates contesting on general seats were returned without any competition. Of these, 836 were returned on general seats of union councils 807 seats in district councils and 29 in municipal corporations. The trend was also witnessed in the election for municipal committees where 58 candidates were returned without contest from as many wards. b. Contested Seats Barring 921 constituencies where candidates were returned unopposed, as many as 33,794 candidates contested on 8,117 general seats and 6,307 candidacies vied for 1,075 chairmen and vice chairmen joint candidature constituencies of union councils. Among the general seats, the largest number of candidates, i.e. 15,310, contested for 5,163 general seats of 995 union councils in District Councils. Furthermore, as many as 2,179 candidates contested for 613 general seats of 107 union councils in Municipal Corporation. In addition to the candidates contesting for union council seats, 5,749 candidates contested 1,239 seats spread across 64 municipal committees. Further, voters cast their vote for 4,306 joint candidatures of chairmen and vice chairmen for as many as 1,075 Union Councils. Of these, 3,816 joint candidatures of chairmen and vice chairmen contested for 973 union councils in District Councils. The remaining 490 joint candidates for chairmen and vice chairmen contested for 102 union councils in Municipal Corporations. Thatta 29 Umerkot 38 19 10 30 8

11 UCs in Districts Councils UCs in Municipal Corporations Chairmen General seat Chairmen General seat 3,816 candidates 973 Seats contested 15,310 candidates 5,163 Seats contested 490 candidates 102 Seats contested 2,179 candidates 613 Seats contested c. Women and Non-Muslim Participation Participation of women and non-muslim candidates on general seats remained extremely low. Only 47 women contested the general seats of union councils and municipal committees. There were only eight women contestants in the competition for seat of chairperson of union council while four competed for vice chairperson seats. Women's continued under representation cannot be overstated when the numbers are compared against the overall number of candidates. In essence, the total number of women candidates, i.e. 59, constitutes a miniscule 0.2% of the overall number of candidates, i.e. 27,544 candidates for all seats. The non-muslim candidates, interestingly, had more contestants in the field compared to women. As many as 96 non-muslim candidates contested on general seats of union council and municipal committees. Six non-muslims candidates were in contention for chairmen seat of union council. In addition, as many as nine non-muslim candidates were running for vice chairmen seat of union council. While the number of non-muslim candidates is reasonably higher than the number of women candidates, the number is a meagre 0.4% of the overall number of candidates. Municipal Committees General seat 5,749 candidates 1,239 contested Contestants General seats Chairperson of UCs Vice Chairperson of UCs Total Women 47 8 4 59 Non-Muslim 96 6 9 111 Number of Observers in Punjab by District Attock 48 35 13 Chiniot 27 16 11

12 2. Voter Statistics The total number of registered voters for second phase of the Sindh Local Government Election 2015 witnessed an increase of around 6.3% over the number of registered voters in General Election 2013. Registered voters increased from 7,532,529 in 2013 to 8,005,200 in 2015. Gender-wise, male registered voters showed a slightly greater increase at 6.6% as compared to female registration which increased District Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Dadu Jamshoro Tharparkar Badin Hyderabad Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Sanghar Umerkot Total Registered Voters in GE 2013 Registered Voters in LGE 2015 Percentage Change Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Overall 326,421 273,671 600,092 361,446 300,995 662,441 10.73% 9.98% 10.40% 355,350 312,843 668,193 375,080 323,456 698,536 5.55% 3.39% 4.50% 326,463 283,256 609,719 351,294 296,050 647,344 7.61% 4.52% 6.20% 202,364 167,060 369,424 213,742 177,876 391,618 5.62% 6.47% 6.00% 254,708 217,021 471,729 279,166 231,710 510,876 9.60% 6.77% 8.30% 365,650 319,338 684,988 513,235 416,484 929,719 1,287,183 1,093,424 2,380,607 162,076 146,298 308,374 171,105 151,782 322,887 134,594 113,123 247,717 362,116 306,466 668,582 215,002 184,759 399,761 171,991 144,991 316,982 337,036 287,602 624,638 940,408 823,775 1,764,183 454,682 391,024 845,706 217,415 196,198 413,613 4,055,013 3,477,516 7,532,529 4,323,514 3,681,686 8,005,200 6.62% 5.87% 6.28% Gujranwala 110 Hafizabad 44 70 40 30 14

13 by 5.9%. However, the comparison between numbers of registered voters might not be entirely accurate, keeping in view the fact that many National and Provincial Assembly constituencies span over multiple districts. Such overlaps were present in districts such as Badin, Hyderabad, Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Thatta, Sujawal, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar and Umerkot. The number of registered voters in 12 districts for second phase of local government election in Punjab increased by 8.14 percent as compared to the General Election 2013. However, the comparison of registered voters between the two elections might not be accurate for Chiniot and Sheikhupura as they overlap with National Assembly constituencies in Jhang and Nankanana Sahib respectively. For these reasons, the data of registered voters in the district cannot be compared with the data of national assembly constituencies in General Election 2013. The table below shows district-wise comparison of registered voters. District Registered Voters in GE 2013 Registered Voters in LGE 2015 Percentage Change Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Overall Attock 561,822 471,058 1,032,880 581,611 495,075 1,076,686 3.52% 5.10% 4.20% Jhelum 418,344 357,664 776,008 454,751 398,646 853,397 8.70% 11.46% 10.00% Mianwali 413,595 344,812 758,407 452,364 371,283 823,647 9.37% 7.68% 8.60% Sargodha 1,046,708 815,096 1,861,804 1,105,106 866,111 1,971,217 5.58% 6.26% 5.90% Toba Tek Singh 616,866 472,669 1,089,535 668,938 514,248 1,183,186 8.44% 8.80% 8.60% Gujranwala 1,316,322 972,084 2,288,406 1,389,773 1,031,699 2,421,472 5.58% 6.13% 5.80% Hafizabad 311,696 231,977 543,673 340,755 252,144 592,899 9.32% 8.69% 9.10% Mandi Bahauddin 476,236 338,918 815,154 519,398 373,978 893,376 9.06% 10.34% 9.60% Khanewal 737,804 564,122 1,301,926 806,399 628,076 1,434,475 9.30% 11.34% 10.20% Sahiwal 673,863 520,504 1,194,367 729,873 576,282 1,306,155 8.31% 10.72% 9.40% Chiniot 366,352 287,789 654,141 Sheikhupura 867,409 607,762 1,475,171 Total 6,573,256 5,088,904 11,662,160 8,282,729 6,403,093 14,685,822 7.72% 8.65% 8.14% Jhelum 39 Khanewal 87 19 20 57 30

14 Bar on Observation 16.7% 2.8% Percentage Polling Stations where Observers were Barred in Punjab 10.5% 6.3% 11.1% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh 4.4% 5.1% Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Percentage Polling Stations where Observers were Barred in Sindh 10.9% 16.7% Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal 12.0% 16.7% 5 47.1% 19.0% 7.7% 11.1% 13.3% 3.8% 13.3% 13.7% Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Overall Mandi Bahauddin 63 Mianwali 51 37 26 36 15

15 Opening Process 5.3% Percentage Polling Stations not Opened at 7:30 AM in Punjab 2.7% 1.5% 4.1% 4.8% 2.9% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Percentage Polling Stations not Opened at 7:30 AM in Sindh Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal 9.1% Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad 11.8% 33.3% Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan 15.4% 16.0% 15.4% Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Sahiwal 117 Sargodha 115 79 38 96 19

16 Percentage Polling Stations Where Polling Staff Was not Present at 7:30 AM in Punjab 0.3% 1.8% 1.6% 0.5% 2.1% 1.5% 0.1% 6.7% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Polling Staff not Present Polling Officer not Present Percentage Polling Stations where Election Material was not available at 7:30 am in Punjab 2 2.9% 6.7% 1.8% 3.1% 1.6% 1.5% 11.8% 5.6% 2.8% 2.7% 2.1% 4.3% 4.1% 9.5% 1.5% 4.4% 2.9% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Ballot Boxes for All Booths Ballot Books Voter Lists Secrecy Screens Sealed Ballot Boxes Sheikhupura 102 Toba Tek Singh 68 86 16 43 25

1 5.0% 9.1% 11.1% 6.7% 9.1% 9.1% 9.1% 4.8% 4.8% 9.1% 9.1% 7.7% 7.7% 7.7% 15.0% 18.2% 17 Percentage Polling Stations where Election Material was not available at 7:30 am in Sindh Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Ballot Books Voter Lists Secrecy Screens Sealed Ballot Boxes Percentage Polling Station Where Other Problems were Observed in Opening Process in Punjab 2 2 6.3% 21.9% 15.8% 10.5% 1.2% 7.3% 11.4% 5.7% 0.9% 15.4% 8.8% 1.6% 12.9% 2 13.3% 3.9% 12.5% 8.9% 1.1% 10.9% 7.7% 10.8% 3.2% 13.4% 5.9% 11.8% 2.9% 12.9% 5.4% 10.8% 5.9% 32.2% 10.2% 12.2% 3.9% 21.7% 19.0% 9.5% 2.8% 16.0% 7.1% 14.3% 2.2% 19.6% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Polling Agents Object to Opening Process Unauthorized Persons Present in Polling Station PS not Setup According to Polling Scheme Polling Scheme not Available with Presiding Officer Percentage Polling Station Where Other Problems were Observed in Opening Process in Sindh 22.7% 18.2% 8.6% 12.9% 2 22.2% 11.1% 29.0% 23.5% 6.8% 21.9% 8.3% 16.7% 4.8% 19.0% 25.0% 2 11.1% 16.2% 15.4% 15.4% 8.6% 14.3% 5 16.0% 8.0% 4.7% 18.8% 15.4% 23.1% 15.4% 7.7% 7.7% 2.8% 5.6% Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Polling Agents Object to Opening Process PS not Setup According to Polling Scheme Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Unauthorized Persons Present in Polling Station Polling Scheme not Available with Presiding Officer

18 Voting Process Polling Stations where Counterfoils were not Signed and Stamped BY APOs in Punjab 1.9% 15.7% 1.7% 3.0% 1.7% 1.0% 0.8% 3.3% 0.5% 5.8% 0.6% 0.6% 0.8% 22.6% 2.3% 10.3% 0.8% 0.5% 0.3% 8.4% 4.4% 4.0% 1.1% 15.6% 0.9% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Counterfoil Stamped Counterfoil Signed Counterfoils not Filled CNIC not Written on Counterfoil Polling Stations where Counterfoils were not Signed and Stamped BY APOs in Sindh 3.4% 3.4% 3.4% 1.4% 0.5% 8.2% 3.3% 1.8% 9.6% 1.3% 1.3% 6.3% 1.1% 2.1% 20.3% 19.0% 15.8% 18.8% Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Counterfoil Stamped Counterfoil Signed Counterfoils not Filled CNIC not Written on Counterfoil

19 Polling Stations where Ballots were not Signed and Stamped BY APOs in Punjab 1.9% 0.6% 0.9% 1.2% 0.5% 0.5% 0.8% 1.2% 0.6% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Ballot Paper Stamped Ballot Paper Signed Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Polling Stations where Ballots were not Signed and Stamped BY APOs in Sindh 1.4% 1.4% 2.7% 2.7% 6.8% 6.8% Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot

18.8% 16.7% 14.6% 8.3% 25.0% 17.9% 17.0% 42.7% 49.1% 23.5% 41.7% 37.2% 14.5% 32.8% 15.5% 17.1% 25.0% 5 30.5% 16.7% 20.8% 18.2% 32.8% 35.0% 31.0% 10.7% 52.4% 66.7% 75.0% 71.4% 79.2% 66.7% 60.9% 88.4% 69.0% 85.7% 75.0% 72.2% 10 68.3% 85.0% 54.5% 72.7% 56.0% 81.0% 20 Environment of polling stations in Punjab Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Party Camps within 200-yards Armed Civilian in Party Camps Voters Persuaded in Camps Voters Given Serial No. Slip from Camps Environment of polling stations in Sindh 35.7% 24.0% 68.0% 88.0% 46.7% 21.4% 28.6% 5 37.5% 28.6% 42.9% 42.9% 38.7% 25.0% 37.5% 68.8% 19.2% 21.4% 78.6% 78.6% 42.9% 22.2% 72.2% 77.8% 36.0% 11.1% 66.7% 88.9% 51.4% 21.1% 68.4% 94.7% 3 10 10 10 25.7% 11.1% 55.6% 88.9% 33.3% 5 5 10 15.3% 30.8% 84.6% 76.9% 23.1% 33.3% 10 66.7% 44.4% 25.0% 37.5% 93.8% Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Party Camps within 200-yards Armed Civilian in Party Camps Voters Persuaded in Camps Voters Given Serial No. Slip from Camps

62.5% 36.6% 53.0% 41.9% 41.2% 39.3% 41.3% 27.1% 5 52.2% 45.3% 53.9% 21 Percentage of Polling Stations Reporting Candidates Providing Transportation for Voters in Punjab Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Percentage of Polling Stations Reporting Candidates Providing Transportation for Voters in Sindh 11.0% 54.3% 36.7% 25.0% 48.4% 5 4 45.9% 4 57.1% 5 55.3% 30.8% 27.8% Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot

2 Polling Stations where Officials were Influencing Voters in Punjab 2.4% 0.8% 1.1% 1.1% 2.8% 2.0% 1.4% 1.4% 1.7% 2.2% 1.5% 2.2% 3.7% 3.7% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Pointing towards Party Symbol Asking Voter about their Choice Polling Stations where Officials were Influencing Voters in Sindh 2.9% 3.3% 4.3% 3.2% 2.4% 4.0% 4.8% 4.0% 2.9% 5.1% 2.8% 5.1% 2.8% 6.5% Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Pointing towards Party Symbol Asking Voter about their Choice

23 Campaigning Inside Polling Station in Punjab 9.4% 18.8% 14.6% 26.8% 8.5% 32.5% 11.3% 25.0% 9.8% 33.3% 10.4% 28.4% 10.9% 42.5% 4.3% 32.9% 9.3% 44.9% 2 46.1% 2.8% 24.5% 15.9% 38.4% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Campaign Material Inside PS Persons with Party Symbols inside PS Campaigning Inside Polling Station in Sindh 17.1% 6.7% 28.6% 6.7% 25.0% 12.5% 16.1% 9.6% 16.1% 20.5% 26.2% 8.0% 5.4% 2 8.1% 2.9% 2 17.1% 16.7% 9.4% 17.9% 24.7% 7.7% 11.1% 2.8% 40.5% Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Campaign Material Inside PS Persons with Party Symbols inside PS

24 Polling Stations where Ballots were Beiing Stampedon Voters' Behalf in Punjab 1.7% 1.8% 1.4% 0.9% 1.7% 2.2% 2.2% 6.3% 6.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.5% 0.4% 0.4% 1.3% 1.3% 1.6% 1.8% 2.1% 1.8% 2.1% 4.2% 4.1% Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Polling Agent Polling Officials Polling Stations where Ballots were Beiing Stampedon Voters' Behalf in Sindh Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Polling Agent Polling Officials

1.2% 1.2% 0.9% 2.6% 0.8% 0.8% 2.4% 2.0% 1.6% 1.2% 1.6% 1.2% 1.4% 0.8% 0.8% 1.7% 2.2% 1.1% 0.9% 0.7% 1.5% 3.9% 4.4% 25 Polling Stations where Unauthorized Persons went Behind Secrecy Screen in Punjab Attock Jhelum Mianwali Sargodha Chiniot Toba Tek Singh Gujranwala Hafizabad Mandi Bahauddin Sheikhupura Khanewal Sahiwal Polling Officials Polling Agents Unauthorized Polling Stations where Unauthorized Persons went Behind Secrecy Screen in Sindh 1.4% 3.2% 1.4% 4.0% 2.9% 2.9% 2.8% 7.1% 1 Naushero Feroz Shaheed Benazirabad Badin Dadu Hyderabad Jamshoro Matiari Tando Allahyar Tando Muhammad Khan Thatta Sujawal Mirpurkhas Tharparkar Umerkot Polling Officials Polling Agents

About FAFEN FAFEN is one of the most credible networks of civil society organizations working for strengthening citizens' voice and accountability in Pakistan since 2006. FAFEN has harnessed information technology for real-time monitoring, facilitation and technical backstopping of partners for effective and result-based program delivery. FAFEN is the only civil society group to have been invited by the Judicial Commission to present the evidence of illegalities and irregularities documented through the course of General Elections 2013 Observation. The systemic and procedural issues identified by FAFEN have been acknowledged by the commission in its detailed findings. FAFEN's recommendations for electoral reforms have contributed to the work of Parliamentary Committee for Electoral Reforms. FAFEN's advocacy for parliamentary transparency, accountability and reforms has shaped public discourse on parliamentary reforms. Improved citizens' access to parliamentary information including daily public release of parliamentarians' attendance records can be directly attributed to FAFEN's work. FAFEN deployed 18,000 and 40,000 non-partisan and trained observers for the systematic observation of general election 2008 and 2013, respectively, largest citizens' observation ever undertaken in Pakistan. FAFEN's evidence and recommendations for reforms have improved the quality of public and political discourse on elections, its issues and need for reforms. Leading political parties and media houses extensively use FAFEN's election findings and analysis to build a case for reforms. With around 14,000 followers on Twitter and around 65,000 on Facebook, FAFEN is considered one of the most reliable sources of electoral and parliamentary information in the country. www.openparliament.pk I www.fafen.org I www.parliamentfiles.com