A day earlier, the commission had issued a brief order directing a recount at 39 polling stations in PB-21 Hub
Ali Hassan Zehri. Photo: file
In a dramatic turn, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday issued a notification declaring Ali Hassan Zehri of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) the return candidate from Balochistan Assembly constituency PB-21 (Hub), just a day after ordering a recount for the seat.
A day earlier, the commission had issued a brief order directing a recount at 39 polling stations in PB-21 Hub. The majority decision was taken by ECP member Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Justice (retd) Ikramullah Khan.
The 2-1 ruling ruled that the commission had accepted an application filed by Zehri and ordered that a recount be conducted at the designated polling stations within three working days. Within 24 hours of this order, the ECP declared Zehri the winner from the constituency.
“Pursuant to the order dated February 25, 2026, passed by the Election Commission of Pakistan … and as a result of recounting of (39) polling stations conducted by the eligible voter, PB-21 Hub, the notification dated December 19, 2024 is hereby restored, declaring Ali Hassan Zehri a returnee from PB-21,” the notification issued on Thursday stated.
Disputed retelling
The case centers on PB-21 (Hub), where a recount conducted at 39 polling stations two months after the February 8, 2024 general election resulted in a dramatic reversal of the results.
The recount declared PPP’s Zehri the winner, even though in the original recount he had not even been placed second.
During the initial results, Muhammad Saleh Bhootani of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) had secured more than double the votes obtained by Zehri and was declared the winner.
However, after the recount, Bhootani was pushed down to third place. The overall voter turnout also changed, with the percentage of votes polled increasing from 55.15 percent to 58.48 percent.
The controversy deepened after a significant change in the election numbers was linked to the arrest of five people from the strong room where the election records had been kept.
The suspects were allegedly found in possession of three plastic bags containing fake ballots and were accused of attempting to tamper with ballots on February 11, 2024, just hours after the ECP first ordered a recount in the 39 polling stations.
Read: FCC suspends PPP’s Zehri, orders report
A closer examination of the revised figures showed sharp numerical shifts. Votes initially secured by Bhootani fell from 30,910 to 17,403 – a reduction of 13,507 votes. At the same time, rejected votes rose from 3,648 to 17,155 – an identical increase of 13,507 votes.
Meanwhile, the total number of votes polled rose from 76,976 to 87,483, reflecting an increase of 10,507 votes.
Of this increase, 9,854 votes were added to Zehri’s tally, raising his total from 14,120 to 23,974. Rajab Ali, who had originally been the runner-up, got another 441 votes and retained his second position.
The remaining 212 votes were distributed among other candidates, with no additional votes credited to Bhootani.
Zehri was formally notified as the returned candidate from PB-21 on 19 December 2024. The ECP had initially ordered the recount on 11 February 2024, but the process was marred by violence, arrests and allegations of fake ballots.
After protracted legal proceedings, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 20 November 2024 quashed all previous cases and directed the ECP to decide the case afresh.
Despite the directive, the ECP in a split 3–2 decision on 16 December 2024 upheld the recount and announced Zehri as the winner. This prompted Bhootani to challenge the decision before the Balochistan High Court and subsequently the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).
Earlier this month, the FCC suspended Zehri’s notification and ordered the ECP to reconsider the pending recount requests.
