ISLAMABAD, May 21: The European Union-Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) has said the post-polling day phase is a critically important part of any electoral process and called upon the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to adopt a transparent mode in releasing data.

“I strongly recommend to the ECP to promptly provide full public information on the results of each and every polling station,” said the mission’s Chief Observer, Michael Gahler, adding that “such transparency would be a significant step forward”.

The EU-EOM has also called for publication of the final polling scheme, so that everyone knows where polling was scheduled and how many people were registered.

In a statement, Mr Gahler said that since post-election scenario was important the EU-EOM was still in Pakistan, focusing on the results process and the system provided for access to remedy in case of shortcomings or disputes.

“Observers continue to have an important role to play in undertaking scrutiny, and in providing information and analysis that can help current and future elections,” he said.

Incidentally, the EU-EOM had recommended after the 2008 general elections that the list of polling stations should be made public well in advance of the election day and that results from them be swiftly displayed at the constituency level and on the internet.

The 2008 mission also called for the establishment of a system for complaints that would provide opportunity for remedy in cases where problems or disputes rose.

Other international election observation missions and citizen observer groups from Pakistan had made similar recommendations.

The EOM will issue its final report on the 2013 elections with recommendations for future elections in the beginning of July.

However, complaints have been made in the current elections by some local NGOs, including Fafen, which observed that due to changes in the polling stations at the last moment created confusion regarding the results including the polled votes.