KARACHI, Oct 10: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has attributed the Thursday’s low voter turnout to the “obvious tilt of the government towards certain parties” in the general elections 2002, thus making people loose interest in the process.

A spokesperson for the HRCP, Zohra Yousaf toldDawn :”We received complaints of discrepancies in the voter lists, voters were being sent from one polling station to another to look for their names.”

She said the HRCP was not satisfied with the arrangements made at the polling stations by the authorities concerned.

Some 350 monitors of the HRCP were active in the city to observe the process. “The observers have been asked to remain at the polling stations till the results are announced,” said another HRCP official.

The spokesperson said that in some cases the voters complained that their votes had already been cast when they reached the polling stations to cast their vote.

Following the compilation of individual assessments of the observers, the HRCP would compile its report on the elections, the spokesperson added.

The HRCP is coordinating with the South Asia for Human Rights and Commonwealth and EU observer groups in monitoring the election process.

The spokesperson said that around 39 observers belonging to Saarc countries — Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal — were also monitoring the election process; three of them were assessing the poll process in the city.