Pakistan General Elections 2024

[TheChosenOne]

Can Someone explain what happens if PTI backed independent candidates win significant numbers of seats? Point-wise speculations on various scenarios...

In any case, IMHO, the current election cycle is a classic case of rock and a hard place for the Pakistani Awam. I fear turnout may be very low and Biryani King baazi maar lega...

Then 72 hours of Lota 2.0 will happen, horse trading at unforeseen levels.

They will be forced to join PMLN/PPP/IPP and denounce Imran Khan.

 

[Fatman17]

Then 72 hours of Lota 2.0 will happen, horse trading at unforeseen levels.

They will be forced to join PMLN/PPP/IPP and denounce Imran Khan.

Lota-ism is not possible anymore

 

[TheChosenOne]

Lota-ism is not possible anymore

Explain please

 

[TheChosenOne]

Pakistan’s Election Commission app faces allegations of potential poll result manipulation | World News - The Indian Express

Senator Taj Haider, in charge of the election cell of the Pakistan Peoples Party through a letter of January 29, addressed to the ECP, expressed concern about the possible misuse of EMS.

indianexpress.com

Pakistan’s Election Commission app faces allegations of potential poll result manipulation​

Senator Taj Haider, in charge of the election cell of the Pakistan Peoples Party through a letter of January 29, addressed to the ECP, expressed concern about the possible misuse of EMS.
​

Pakistan’s election commission’s new app to swiftly transmit and tabulate election results is in the crosshairs due to concerns raised by some officials about the possibility of manipulation of the software to impact the outcome of the polls on Thursday.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) prepared the Election Management System (EMS) app for transmission of results from each polling station to a centralised system where tabulation of all results would be completed by the Returning Offices, who are in charge of preparing and releasing the result of each constituency.
The ECP is set to use the system on February 8 after claiming that the countrywide test run of EMS has been a “success”.
However, two election officials in Sindh province have pointed out faults in the EMS after the second test run last week. Abdul Qadir Mashori, the Qambar assistant commissioner (AC) and Returning Officer (RO) for National Assembly seat NA-197 (Qambar-Shahdadkot-II); and Usman Khaskheli, the Bakrani AC and RO for PS-12 (Larkana-III) seat of Sindh Assembly, have written letters to their superiors, conveying almost identical issues regarding the EMS.
Mashori’s letter, which emerged on Sunday, was sent to the Qambar-Shahdadkot district returning officer on February 3. Mashori told the Dawn newspaper that the issues he had pointed out were later resolved and that he had conveyed the same in a follow-up letter.

Mashori in his letter has stated that the data regarding duties assigned to polling officials were uploaded to the EMS, which was later “found missing”. “This weakness of [the] system has created many issues and also raises [a] question mark on the reliability and validity of the software.” The official expressed apprehension that either the system was an “utter failure” or was being “controlled” by someone. The report also quoted sources confirming that Khaskheli also wrote a similar letter addressed to the Larkana district returning officer (DRO).
The ECP through a letter addressed to all four provincial election commissioners issued standard operating procedures and guidelines to hold a mock exercise of EMS on January 26, according to a report by the Dawn newspaper.
Senator Taj Haider, in charge of the election cell of the Pakistan Peoples Party through a letter of January 29, addressed to the ECP, expressed concern about the possible misuse of EMS. “We have the honour to bring to your notice our serious objections to the introduction of a completely new and unfamiliar application (EMS Mobile App) for electronic transmission of Result of Count (Form 45) from Presiding Officers to Returning Officers,” he wrote.
After the criticism and complaints, the ECP had to come out in defence of the EMS, which has become the subject of a growing controversy. The ECP Secretary Syed Asif Hussain ruled out any possibility of manipulation while addressing a press conference on Monday. He said that the EMS would work even if the internet failed, as returning officers would still be able to compile all results offline. He said more than 60 ROs in remote areas had also been provided with satellite connectivity to keep them connected.
Reporters also posed similar questions to the project director of the ECP’s Project Management Unit (PMU), Colonel Saad. When asked about the possibility of the EMS being hacked and the results being manipulated to favour a specific political party, Saad said the system had all the security features of an international standard application and would run on a secure private network which would be accessible only to specific individuals on a pre-approved white list. On the allegation that the system may be manipulated, Saad said he had spoken personally with the returning officer who suggested that somebody else might be controlling the system. “The problem faced by the RO has been resolved,” he said.
The project director, in response to a question, said it was not possible to provide a specific time for how long it may take to compile all results. He hoped, however, that all legal deadlines would be met and results would be completed by 10 am on the day after the elections (February 9). He further shared that the EMS had been tested five times at various levels, and minor glitches that were discovered had been addressed.
The ECP’s chief of IT section, Khizar Aziz, said that the EMS technology had been upgraded, and it had already been used in 40 elections. The National Operations Center, he pointed out, has been built under world standards, and several power backups have been created to keep it running during emergencies.
Explaining how the process will work, Aziz said the presiding officers in each polling station will send compiled results to their returning officer through the EMS.
“If there is any issue in the delivery of results, the presiding officer will personally convey them to the returning officer,” he assured, adding, “The EMS will immediately detect any changes in the results.” During the previous elections in 2018, the ECP’s Result Transmission System (RTS) was clogged when thousands of polling stations began sending results from all parts of the country, causing delays in the announcement of results of some constituencies, which was exploited by the losing parties as allegedly conscious effort to rig the results.
Senator Haider in his letter also pointed out the problems created due to the RTS in 2018. “We apprehend that a situation similar to that of the failure of RTS in General Elections of 2018 can emerge which like General Elections 2018 will be used for massive rigging of the results besides causing long delays in compiling of the provisional results by the Returning Officers,” he stated.
With the elections just around a day away, the ECP is still trying to address the concerns regarding the EMS, which is not a good omen for the future of elections, observers opine.

 

[hembo]

Then 72 hours of Lota 2.0 will happen, horse trading at unforeseen levels.

They will be forced to join PMLN/PPP/IPP and denounce Imran Khan.

I was implying about any post-election strategic gain for PTI to influence eventual release of IK. Or even a strategy to form govt. in case they gain close to 2/3rd majority. I know it's highly improbable ATM. But one can always speculate.

You have portrayed an even bleaker picture. I don't think most of them PTI backed candidates will give in to easily towards horse trading. Or, will they?

 

[hembo]

I wonder what impact will this have on the Indian Lok Sabha election. I am sure BJP/Modi were praying for an IK win. Sharif coming to power with a clear mandate is going to spoil their 400+ party

No impact me think.

 

[TheChosenOne]

I was implying about any post-election strategic gain for PTI to influence eventual release of IK. Or even a strategy to form govt. in case they gain close to 2/3rd majority. I know it's highly improbable ATM. But one can always speculate.

You have portrayed an even bleaker picture. I don't think most of them PTI backed candidates will give in to easily towards horse trading. Or, will they?

I think most candidates would've already quoted their price. It can be cash or position or taking care of court cases. The fear of 5 full years of witchhunt by agencies and anti-corruption watchdogs would make anyone quiver.

 

[TheChosenOne]

No impact me think.

As a BJP voter I was really hoping for an IK win. I knew IK would do something stupid as soon as he returns to power. Sadly, he is doing stupid stuff BEFORE oming to power, which is preventing him from coming to power.

 

[hembo]

As a BJP voter I was really hoping for an IK win. I knew IK would do something stupid as soon as he returns to power. Sadly, he is doing stupid stuff BEFORE oming to power, which is preventing him from coming to power.

Didn't know you were Indian. My question was more towards Pakistani voters.

 

[safriz]

Sent to me by a family member. They had fun with the voting stamp

 

[safriz]

Anyone gone voting today? How's the environment on the streets?

People complaining that's it's very slow, and turnout is very large

 

[Mr X]

People complaining that's it's very slow, and turnout is very large

If the turnout is not too much, slow the queue to make it longer haha

 

[Mr X]

That’s bbc for you

 

[Vikramaditya1]

News saying internet is cut but Pakistanis are posting pictures of voting everywhere.

 

[Reichsmarschall]

News saying internet is cut but Pakistanis are posting pictures of voting everywhere.

only mobile networks have been suspended. We can still use WiFi.