KARACHI: Were the elections peaceful? How was the turnout? Did the polling start on time? What about the systemic irregularities or the state of the polling station? Which was the most active party in mobilising its supporters?

The answers to these questions will vary based on whom you ask and, more importantly, where they are based. As the clocks struck 8am on Thursday, Pakistan went to the polls. For the next nine hours, innumerable anecdotes were narrated regarding how peaceful or disrupted the voting was.

If you were one of the lucky ones, you’d have been in and out of the polling station within minutes. If you were among the unlucky ones, polling at your station may not have started by even 3pm.

If the Election Commi­ssion of Pakistan (ECP) was diligent while entering your family’s data in polling lists, you’d have found your entire family’s vote at one station. Other­wise, a father might have a vote in your nearest polling station, but the son won’t. Now you’re free to run from the pillar of one station to the post of another and find your vote.

From Karachi to Khyber, crammed polling stations, little to no provision for the physically challenged, usual systemic hurdles abound

No! You can’t send your NIC number to 8300. The authorities pulled the plug on cellular services even before you woke up in the morning.

Voter experiences

Inconveniences and hiccups are staples in any and everything that happens in our country because Pa­k­­istan and an ‘unencum­bered countrywide exercise’ are oxymoronic.

In areas where voting proce­sses weren’t stymied by del­i­berate and indeliberate hindrances, low turnout, rampant disillusionment, and lack of mobilisation efforts meant many people didn’t bother to make the journey to exercise their democratic right.

Polls in Pakistan are synonymous with buzz, fervour and festivities. These elements were conspicuously absent from Thursday’s exercise. So was the excitement among voters about any palpable change following the elections. Old and young people told Dawn that their hopes for this election were grim. They were disenchanted and found no representative worthy of votes. Despite this, many arrived at the polling stations and exercised their right to vote.

In some areas of Lahore, especially where key PML-N leaders were contesting, the party facilitated voters by arranging food and transport. In areas where the party was in a dominating position in Karachi, PPP also lured voters with similar incentives.

The polling scenes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were completely different. While sporadic voting activity in Balochistan could be attributed to the huge landmass of constituencies, in KP, the parties failed to bring voters out in droves. The turnout remained lulled as the two provinces continued to grapple with violent attacks.

For the residents of tribal areas, this was the first election since they were mainstreamed following the merger with KP. While the turnout was low, polling was largely peaceful, with a few reports of violence.

The hassle

Sentiments and turnouts might vary across the country, but one thing was consistent across the length and breadth of the country: systematic issues.

Many people left till the last moment to confirm their voting details through 8300. They were then reliant on handwritten slips made by political parties’ agents camping outside polling stations. With a piece of paper in hand, they reach the polling booth; they can’t cast the vote since their name is not on the list.

As per some reported cases from Karachi, the polling staff deliberately tried to mislead people by stating their vote was not registered in the area. There were also reports from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and other areas where families’ votes were scattered across the city or town.

It was like your commitment to vote is being met with the challenge of traversing the city with petrol at 272.89 per litre. What will you choose?

The polling stations severely lacked clear markings for the voters’ guidance. In Karachi, polling stations set up in schools usually had booths on first and second floors. Voters, especially the elderly, had to climb one or two flights of stairs, only to be told that their vote was in the next building.

It was up to the security personnel and presiding officer to guide people and send them to the right booths. In Karachi, complaints regarding polling staff’s lack of training and subtle disregard were also received. However, in Punjab and Islamabad, the officials were found facilitating people to exercise their right to vote.

Polling station blues

Yet, people did come out to vote across the country. Some polling stations had queues forming at 8am sharp, while in other areas, voters thronged as the day progressed. In Lahore and other areas of Punjab, there were reports of active participation of women — in some cases, more than the men.

The decrepit government schools turned into polling stations, were themselves the biggest case against rejecting every and all political parties. Filthy toilets and ramshackle classrooms left a distasteful impression on voters.

The polling stations in Sindh and Punjab were severely cramped for room as two to three of them were set up inside one school. This was done out of compulsion as ECP lacked at least 150,000 polling stations proportionate to the population of voters.

The result: people had to stand in queues for hours to cast their vote. Well, to be honest, this is the comeuppance for their tardiness. In areas where polling started on time, polling staff sat idly for hours in wait for voters. The idiosyncratic Pakistani voter, who was enjoying a holiday, only left the house following a satiating halwa puri and naan chana nashta after noon.

In contrast, some dutiful citizens lined up outside polling stations at 8am — so early that the polling had to be started in the absence of parties’ polling agents, a presiding officer at a Karachi polling station told Dawn.

Other than occasional reports of disruption, vandalism and hooliganism, the polling process was largely smooth from 8am to 5pm across the country.

No respite for persons with disabilities

There was minimal effort on ECP’s part to facilitate people with disabilities. The polling stations had steep stairs which were to be climbed to reach the booth.

Polling stations across the country lacked arrangements to facilitate people with disabilities. Multiple flights of steps meant the ramps couldn’t be provided for people on wheelchairs. Since polling stations were set up in schools, lifts or elevators were out of the question. Narrow corridors and crammed polling booths further restricted movements for disabled persons and senior citizens.

Yet, they arrived at the polling stations — some being aided by their younger family members, others being carried up the stairs in wheelchairs. There were no ballot papers for the blind nor any special signs for the deaf.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2024