Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) plans to release next week details of polling station vote counts, accounting of ballot papers, consolidation of election results and polling schemes implemented on 11 May 2013 elections. An ECP official said it is not mandatory for Presiding Officers and Returning Officers to submit details of polling schemes, ballot papers and other essential documents related to the results of general elections as the Representation of People's Act 1976 does not make it binding on the commission.
All the election laws are silent on the subject of releasing election details on its website, he maintained. However, he said that on the request of the civil society, the ECP would post the details on its website in 10 days for the information of public. He emphasised that it was not binding on the ECP to release the data but added that it would strengthen ECP's claim that elections 2013 were not rigged.
The ECP has yet to release documents including Form XIV (Statement of the Count) and Form XV (Ballot Paper Account) for all polling stations for all National and Provincial Assembly constituency elections, as well as Form XVI (Consolidation of Statements of the Count), Form XVII (Result of the Count) and the Polling Scheme exactly as implemented on Election Day for all National and Provincial Assembly constituencies.
An election expert said that the Representation of People's Act 1976 relates primarily to conduct of elections; however, the ECP must release the data under the access to information act as it is now a public document. He hinted at the possibility that the details when released may provide evidence of irregularities and rigging in the general elections. European Election Observers, Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) and other civil society organisations have been requesting the ECP to fulfil its public commitment and meet legal standards for electoral transparency by releasing these documents. They have further urged the ECP to post essential documents related to the results without any further delay on its website - documents which are fundamental to any objective assessment of the elections and are required for electoral transparency.
In its final report, the EU observer mission asked ECP to introduce strong transparency measures, including making all notifications, decisions and election-related information immediately and easily available to the public. The ECP forms contain the records of polling station vote counts, accounting for ballot papers, consolidation of election results, and polling schemes implemented on election-day. All of the forms contain information of public importance and the Constitution and the law entails that these must be available to citizens, the civil society urged.
FAFEN states that the public release of all key documents is required in order to address questions being raised about the quality and transparency of the 2013 general elections. If election officials fail to fill out all forms completely and accurately, neither ECP nor independent observers can analyse election data properly or detect and correct any irregularities.
They claim that there are many examples of Forms XIV and XV that are not duly filled as required by law, or have many mistakes in basic recording of data and arithmetic, or do not have the signature or other required details of the presiding officer responsible at the polling station. In other instances, Form XIV issued on Election Day by presiding officers is different from the certified copies of the same form for the same polling station provided by RO. There are additional instances of erroneous transcriptions of Form XIV onto Form XVI. Additionally, any investigation must also compare Form XIV and XV issued at a polling station for both national and provincial seats in order to identify discrepancies in turnout, rejected votes etcetera.