LAHORE, Pakistan: A report about investigating into alleged rigging in Lahore’s NA-122 constituency was submitted to the Election Tribunal Judge Kazim Ali Malik in Lahore on Saturday, according to which irregularities were found in NA-122 polling stations.
The report was submitted by the retired sessions judge Malik Ghulam Hussain Awan who had been appointed as head of the commission and ordered inspection of NA-122 polling record.
The commission judge also recorded his statement before the election tribunal and told that due to the negligence of polling staff, ballot bags with broken seals had been included in the report along with invalid votes and different coloured ballot papers.
The 42-page report submitted by the retired judge stated that 180,115 verified votes and 23,639 votes without signature/stamp of the authorized polling staff were found during the inspection.
The report declared that 3,642 votes were invalid or rejected.
It said that Sardar Ayaz Sadiq obtained 92,393 votes whereas the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan received 83,542 votes. The remaining 4,180 votes went to other candidates.
It further revealed that 806 votes in Form-14 did not match the counterfoils.
The Election Tribunal Judge Kazim Ali Malik said that if what the report states is true, he will personally inspect the NA-122 ballots and form a decision based on the commission’s findings.
Malik further said that he will take action against rigging in NA-122 polling stations according to the laws.
Later, he adjourned the hearing till January 31.
