KARACHI, May 11: Long queues of voters outside polling stations in Karachi East were witnessed as the people in most cases were waiting for presiding officers to turn up at polling stations or were waiting for the polling staff to start the process.

Another feature of the day was absence of Army and Rangers personnel while people, including polling staff, finding no proper security arrangements at polling stations to maintain discipline in queues found expressing apprehensions of brewing trouble any moment.

When attention of presiding officers were drawn towards unruly crowds outside polling stations, they appeared not interested to call the Rangers or Army saying that the polling process was moving smoothly without any hurdle in the polling station.

Many voters were found complaining that the polling station number provided to them from 8300 SMS service was not correct as when they reached on the polling station they were informed that they could not cast their vote as their polling station was located at some other place.

The people present at election camps of candidates in most cases were also not helpful enough.

At almost all polling stations of the constituencies in district east, presence of PPP, MQM, PTI and JI candidates was quite visible from their polling agents.

The electorates who were standing for over an hour when this correspondent visited some of the polling stations located in the constituency of NA-253, including Janaat Town, Sohrab Goth, Falcon House, Crown City School, started agitating over slow pace of voting leaving them to face scorching sun.

At the camps set up at a distance of 200 meters from the polling station in Rural Health Centre in Jannat Town by political parties PTI, JUI-F, JI and Muttahida Deeni Mahaz, the voters, mostly Puhshto speaking, finding media person among them questioned him if the people living in Sohrab Goth were not Pakistanis and why they were being denied to cast their vote to the candidate of their choice?

Khurshid Ahmad, an assistant Presiding officer told Dawn that despite their repeated phone call, there was no response from the presiding officer.

He said they did not have ballot papers and other material required to start polling process that was why they have to wait for turning up of the presiding officer who would bring it.

At Shaheen Public School In Gulistan-i-Jauhar Block 2 the polling could not be started until 12 noon and many people returned back without casting vote. The presiding officer who arrived at 11am had only brought ballots for election of the national assembly candidate and had to rush again to the Federal Urdu University to bring ballot papers to elect member of the provincial assembly.

In constituency NA-256, the polling station 119 set up at the CA Model School, airport area there was no complaint as the polling remain smooth starting at 8.10am.

A visit to polling stations number 32 and 33 located in Poultry Research Centre in Awami Colony in constituency NA-255 revealed that the polling staff was provided only two rooms of 4x4 ft where there was no space left after keeping ballot box on the table for maintaining secrecy of the ballot which was kept in the toilet.

Even chairs were not provided to the polling agents, nor was there drinking water. Outside there were long queues of people trying to enter the room to cast vote.

A police constable, who was standing outside the polling station told Dawn that there were only three constables on duty, but the crowed was increasing and becoming restless and despite repeated requests the Rangers had not turn up.

In polling station 19 in Masher Colony of the NA-255, voters rush was high at the election camp of Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi contesting on the ticket of Ahle Sunnat-wal-Jamaat.

However, the turnout of women voters was quite poor.

At the polling station number PS-45, 46, 60 and 61 located in Government National College, Bahadurabad of NA-252 the enthusiasm of voters was found unmatched where even after the polling was started on time there was long queue of voters at 4pm and people were turning up to cast their vote.

Many people said they were casting their vote first time.