May 30; A PILDAT Assessment on Quality of General Election 2013 reveals that the polling day was the weakest link and the worst scorer in the indicators of quality of General Election 2013.

A PILDAT assessment, being released today, indicates that the Quality of Election during the Pre-Poll phase has been significantly better than the quality on the Polling day and Post-Poll phases. This indicates that there was a relative dissatisfaction with the quality of election and arrangements on the polling day and immediately following the polling day (Post-poll phase).

Quality of Election during Pre-poll phase has been rated at 62% while the quality of election on the polling day and post-poll phase has been rated at 47% and 68% respectively. Overall Quality of General Election 2013 has been assessed at 57% which compares with 37% rating for 2002 Election and 40% rating for 2008 Election.

After the conclusion of the General Election 2013 on May 11, 2013, many political parties and individuals have charged that election, in at least some constituencies, was manipulated or rigged or mismanaged. In the light of the unexpected level of complaints on the conduct of General Election 2013, PILDAT has carried out an assessment the quality of General Election 2013 in a scientific and dispassionate manner.

In the light of the unexpected level of complaints on the conduct of election, PILDAT assessed the quality of General Election 2013 under three broad phases:

1. The Pre-Poll Phase
2. The Polling Day Operations, and
3. The Post-Poll Phase

The Quality of the election has been assessed under 37 parameters; 17 under Pre-Poll Phase; 15 under Polling Day Operations and 5 under Post-Poll Phase. Each parameter has been assigned equal weightage. Each parameter has been graded on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 indicating the poorest quality and 5 indicating the best quality.

The quality rating for the subsequent two phases indicates that the momentum of improvement in the quality of election that was set into motion in the pre-poll phase could not be maintained on the polling day and the post-poll phase.

The overall quality of General Election 2013 indicates a significant improvement over previous elections. Although it appears that different local powerful actors negatively influenced the quality of election in Urban Sindh, especially Karachi, rural Sindh and certain constituencies in the Punjab, there is no evidence at this stage which suggests a planned manipulation of polls by any State institution unlike the strongly suspected government interference in many of the past elections. Many past elections suffered from a deeply flawed pre-poll phase when government of the day and the intelligence agencies heavily rigged the process.

The legal framework of the election, quality of electoral rolls, independence of the ECP, integrity of the ECP, independence of Judiciary, independence of news media from government influence, competitiveness of the election (manifested in the number of candidates and political parties taking part in election) and the arrangement made by the ECP through mobile phone SMS service to inform voters of their polling stations and associated details were eight parameters which received the top score of either 4 or 5 among 17 parameters of Pre-Poll phase.

Quality of scrutiny of candidates, ECP mechanism to check overspending by candidates and political parties, ability of the governments to maintain peace and order during the election campaign, independence of media from foreign and commercial interests were five parameters of pre-poll phase which received low scores of 1 or 2.

None of the 15 parameters of Polling-Day Phase could receive a score of 4 or 5. Training of the Polling Staff, Management capacity of the ECP for the polling day, transmission of election results from polling stations to Returning Officer and from returning Officers to the ECP, Arrangements for transportation and Safety of polling material and staff, transparency of consolidation of election results at the constituency level, peace and order on the polling day were nine parameters out of total 15 in Polling-day phase which received low scores of 1 or 2.

PILDAT assessment advised that the ECP should dispassionately analyse the weaknesses and shortcomings experienced during the polling-day and post-poll phases and initiate actions to address the flaws ahead of Local Government Election.

Political parties and unsuccessful candidates who have complaints about the quality of election should focus on legal and constitutional remedies and fight their cases in the election tribunals and superior judiciary with all the proofs and evidences available with them instead of resorting to street agitation. Timely decision by the election tribunals within the stipulated period of four months will greatly reinforce public confidence in the electoral and judicial systems.

In view of the experience of General Election 2013 and based on the past experience, PILDAT recommends the following measures for the future:

1. The ECP should provide better facilities for definitive voter identification at the time of polling. Thumb Impression should be used for fool-proof identification.

2. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) be introduced to minimize the possibility of tempering and human error at the time of consolidation of results.

3. Returning Officers are appointed from the district judiciary. The Judicial Policy announced by the Chief justice of Pakistan disallowed the appointment of District and Session Judges and Additional session Judges as Returning Officers but an exception was made for General Election 2013 at the request of the ECP. A satisfactory alternative arrangement needs to be made by the Election Commission well in time before the next General Election. The ECP may consider appointing its own staff as Returning and District Returning Officers.

4. Qualifications of the CEC and Members of the Election Commission, as fixed under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, may be reviewed to open the possibility of appointment in these positions of any person with integrity and administrative experience rather than confining the qualification to former judges alone. Conduct of Election is mainly an administrative exercise and administrative qualities are important for the CEC and the EC members.

5. Polling Staff is the weakest link in the election chain. As a minimum requirement, polling staff from one division or district should be appointed in another division or district so that it may perform functions free from local powerful elements. Some arrangement may need to be made to counter the influence of the outgoing provincial governments which have the possibility of re-election.

6. Training of Returning Officers and Polling Staff needs to be improved.

7. Permanent Polling Stations in greater numbers be established in suitable premises keeping in view that greater number of voters may turn up in future elections.

8. There should be no last minute changes in the polling scheme.

9. Time for the scrutiny of candidates� nomination papers be extended to at least 3 weeks instead of present 7 days.

10. The system of appointing caretaker governments under the 20th Constitutional Amendment should be reviewed in the light of experiences gained during the recent appointment of caretaker governments. A coalition partner political party may part ways with the government immediately before the election and may win the position of leader of the opposition leading to appointment of a caretaker government which excludes the real opposition from consultative process. Furthermore, in most cases, the caretaker governments did not prove to be neutral and effective.

The complete PILDAT Assessment on Quality of General Election 2013 can be downloaded here.