Vote recount underway in several NA constituencies

LAHORE: Vote recount underway in a number of National Assembly constituencies on the request of runner-up candidates who complained of irregularities in the counting process. 

A recount of votes is underway in NA-131 where PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique challenged PTI chief Imran Khan’s victory.

A day earlier, the returning officer concerned accepted the request for recounting the votes in this constituency. According to unofficial results, the PTI chief bagged 84, 313 votes, defeating the former railway minister with a narrow margin of 650 votes as the latter could secure 83,663 votes.

Recounting of ballots is also underway in

Multan’s NA-157 and NA-154 where former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani’s sons – Ali Musa Gilani and Abdul Qadir Gilani – lost the election to PTI vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s son Zain Qureshi and its candidate Ahmed Hussain, respectively.

Ballots are also being recounted in NA-126 Lahore where PML-N candidate Mehr Ishtiaq Ahmad Anwar of the PML-N to PTI’s Muhammad Hammad Azhar by a margin of a mere 3,000 votes.

In Karachi, returning officer Naveed Soomro rejected a request by PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif seeking recounting of votes in NA-249 where he lost the election to PTI’s Faisal Vawda.