KARACHI, Oct 10: Scuffles broke out at many polling stations between polling agents of political parties and presiding officers over national identity cards.

Presiding officers told Dawn that they had been instructed to forbid people without national identity cards from casting votes. They had been told that no identification except a national identity card — either issued recently by the National Database Registration Authority or the old one — was admissible for polling purposes. But they found themselves in a position about which the rulebook was ominously silent.

“The problem is that a large number of voters point out that their names are in the voters’ list, but they do not have national identity cards. Instead, they have receipts issued by Nadra saying that they will be issued national identity cards in time. We are having problems making the polling agents understand that a Nadra receipt is not equivalent to a national identity card.”

Polling agents belonging to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal told Dawn that a large number of their supporters belonged to the Afghan community who had come to Pakistan following US airstrikes against the Taliban. “The problem is that they are without national identity cards. If the election commission has inserted their names in electoral lists as eligible voters, why are the presiding officers not allowing them to cast vote,” they wondered.

Zafarur Rehman, a resident of Landhi, told Dawn that the polling officer at Government Boys Secondary School informed him that his name was not present in the electoral list. ”I have taken part in the last five elections. My national identity card has been punched five times. But the polling officer tells me that the electoral list does not contain my name. My wife has also cast votes in the last five elections. Her name is also not present in the voters’ list,” he said.

Taufiq Ahmed, a resident of Korangi, said that while he had cast his vote in more than one elections, the present electoral list did not contain his name. “It however contains the name of my nephew who recently turned 18,” he said.

Many political activists at Shah Faisal, Landhi and Korangi said a large number of their supporters had not been allowed to cast their votes on flimsy grounds. “For instance, if the name of a voter is Abdul Hameed but the electoral list has Mohammad Hameed alongside his national identity card number, then he is not allowed to cast his vote. That was why a large number of people failed to cast their votes, thus bringing down the turnout significantly.”

COMPLAINTS: A senior advocate, Azizullah Shaikh, expressed his bitterness as his wife was not allowed to cast her vote at the Aik Aik Government Boy Secondary School in Gizri, where Shaikh cast his, adds APP.

He said there was no point in asking his wife to go five miles away from this polling station to cast her vote.

His wife said she had been standing there for the past two hours. She said that she went to every single room in this poling station to check her name but it was not there.

A man, Badarul Hassan, who was present at the same polling station said he too faced a lot of inconvenience.

He said he first got information about his vote number from the tents pitched by the candidates and then had been to every single booth at the polling station but every time was asked to go to the other room.

Raja Kamran, a PPP candidate from PS-113, alleged that the polling stations were changed overnight. “Some people are in possession of additional lists which we do not have”, he added.

He said that the polling at this very station had begun after 11am.

Rafiq Gaya and Farida Gaya said more than 50 per cent of the people could not find their numbers to know their booth numbers.