Low turnout and a video of a voter using his mobile phone inside a polling booth were the issues in the by-elections to the National Assembly constituency NA-133 in Lahore on Sunday.
Polling continued from 8 in the morning till 5 pm in a peaceful manner. However, outside some polling stations, political activists raised slogans against each other but stopped short of full-blown fights.
The constituency is considered a Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) stronghold, but the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) believes its powerful electioneering will lead to an electoral upset.
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was ousted from the electoral exercise after its candidate and the covering candidate had their nomination papers rejected.
After the polling began Sunday morning, a video surfaced on social media showing a voter recording how he used his right to vote. The voter, using his mobile phone, recorded a video as he placed the voting stamp over the PPP symbol of an arrow. The voter also makes a thumbs-up sign after that.
PMLN’s Azma Bokhari shared the video on Twitter and urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take notice of it. She questioned how a voter was allowed to take his mobile phone inside the booth.
The Returning Officer ordered a probe instructing officials to identify the voter and arrest him.
Last week, another video controversy surrounded the NA-133 by-election after videos surfaced showing alleged PML-N workers bribing women voters.
Meanwhile, the turnout at some of the polling stations was reported to be low.
Lahore police shared videos showing policemen helping differently-abled voters to reach polling stations.
