In the absence of another candidate in the referendum, there were no polling agents at the booths, nor any electoral list to verify the identity of the voters, as in addition to the NID card, old or new, any other document, which could prove the age of a voter being 18 years or above, was enough for being eligible to cast a vote.
By and large, except government offices and other institutions where brisk voting was recorded from the beginning, the turn-out of voters in the first two hours was low, but with a passage of time, small queues were witnessed at the polling stations set up on main roads and at improvised PS set up in Kachchi Abadis.
Another discrepancy, witnessed at most of the polling stations, pertains to violation of secrecy of the ballot as the stamp was kept near the polling officer and the staff deputed to mark the voter with indelible ink was watching the voter using the stamp.
Besides, confusion persisted among voters in some localities in the MQM-dominated areas due to late night development in which Altaf Hussain advised workers not to cast vote in the referendum, although a day earlier, it was the MQM which made the concluding rally of Gen Musharraf a success.
Owing to the increased number of polling stations on the road-sides, many people, including women who seldom exercise their right of vote because of rush and queues at the polling stations, were seen casting their votes.
Most of the presiding officers whose duty was far away from their place of residence had to pass the night either in schools or at open places in case of improvised polling stations to ensure their presence at 7am. Some of them who were delivered referendum material after midnight, could not sleep. The delay in the distribution of referendum material was attributed to the procedure adopted for advance payment of honorarium to the election staff.
A few incidents of mismanagement were also reported in which the polling staff was available but there was no one to locate the polling station. Other cases pertain to shifting of improvised polling stations from roadside to nearby school building for security in district central.
In Government College of Education, the male polling booth was set up around 12 noon where polling staff was dropped but without providing them referendum material, including ballot box and ballot books.
At another polling station in Dastagir, the polling staff with referendum material was present at 7am but without any ballot boxes which were delivered to them by a mobile police van after the staff drew their attention towards the non-availability of ballot boxes.
At some of the polling stations, brisk polling was recorded thanks to the active role played by area councillors who got the people mobilised.
The referendum material provided to each polling station included forms to be filled in by presiding officers and 10 books of ballots, each with 100 pages while according to original plan, from 500 to 600 votes were expected at each polling station.
Some of the improvised polling stations in New Karachi and Korangi were removed during night by miscreants which again were set up in the morning in the vicinity.
Another reason for lacklustre in the referendum was boycott by major political and religious parties, besides the referendum day remained a working day, contrary to the past practice when election day used to be a public holiday.
The activists of newly-formed or insignificance political parties which had announced their support in the referendum, like Tehreek-i-Insaf, PML (Q), NPP, SDA, Millat Party, Awami Tehreek and NGOs mostly, remained out of the scene.
The provision of casting votes at work-places, including shopping centres, market-places, major bus terminuses, airport, railway stations, Steel Mills, corporations, bank centres hospitals, and factories, in multistory buildings having corporate offices, resulted in little rush at polling stations.