Pak authorities face hiccups in finalising election results

Pakistan authorities were today faced with hiccups in finalising the outcome of the general elections due to logistic and technical problems, resulting in allegations of rigging.

More than 85,000 polling stations were set up for elections to the national and provincial assemblies but transmission of results from there stopped due to fault in the Result Transmission Service - a special software designed for it.

Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Babar Yaqoob told media that the process had picked up after mid-day and as polling staff had physically submitted about 90 per cent results with Returning Officers (ROs) who compile final tally of every candidate.

"There was some delay but we are still faster than many other countries where it takes days before final results are ready," he said.

Yaqoob said that his analysis showed that voters' turnout was around 55 per cent but it was an "initial assessment and could change".

But contrary to his claims, the official website of the ECP showed that results of just 152 out of 270 contested seats of National Assembly were received.