Islamabad:
Believe it or not! At least 49 polling stations across Pakistan reported an unbelievable voter turnout of more than 100 per cent in the just-concluded general elections.
Amid allegations of vote rigging, the voter turnout was reported over 100 per cent in at least 49 out of 8,119 polling stations sampled across Pakistan, by observer group Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
After noticing the irregularities, FAFEN has called on the Election Commission of Pakistan to put up all polling station data on its website before certifying any final election results in any constituency.
32 polling stations with greater than 100 per cent turnout were in Punjab, 10 in Sindh, six in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one in Balochistan, FAFEN said.
According to a report in Dawn newspaper, the statistics registered in at least five polling stations in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi in Sindh province, showed rigging trends since the number of votes polled far exceeded the registered voters, according to the data from FAFEN.
Polling stations with over 100 per cent votes polled include Orangi Town, Model Colony, Malir Colony and Shah Faisal Colony.
According to the statistics, 2,508 and 1,484 votes were polled at two polling stations in Orangi Town, while the respective number of registered voters was 1,349 and 1,230.
In total, data provided by FAFEN shows at least 32 polling stations with over 80 per cent votes polled, which it says are abnormally high numbers.
FAFEN had over 900 trained election observers monitoring polling in Karachi, and more than 41,000 observers across the country.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has taken notice of widespread reports of rigging in Karachi, and has ordered re-polling at 43 stations in Karachi.
"We will conduct re-polling where we receive substantial evidence of rigging or irregularities," Secretary ECP Ishtiaq Ahmed has said.
Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf party had also alleged vote rigging at various places during the May 11 general elections won by Nawaz Sharif's PML-N.