Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) is the first-ever network of civil society networks in Pakistan dedicated to strengthening democracy through methodically-enacted observation and oversight of electoral, parliamentary, and governance processes. As many as 20 regional networks of over 500 tehsil-level civil society organizations are part of FAFEN, establishing its unmatched outreach to communities of people belonging to all classes, ethnicities, and religions across Pakistan. FAFEN’s work since its inception in 2006, has made it one of the most credible voices in the country for responsive, transparent, accountable, and efficient electoral, legislative, and local governance.So far, FAFEN has observed the General Elections in 2008, 2013 and 2018, Local Government Elections in 2015, and Legislative Assembly Elections in Gilgit-Baltistan in 2009 and 2015, with active support of its partner organizations as well as duly accreditation from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). FAFEN has earned an excellent reputation among various stakeholders, including the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and has been recognized as an authentic organization among political parties, civil society organizations, international community, academia, and the media. After the General Elections 2013 various political parties levelled multiple charges of rigging, on which the Supreme Court of Pakistan had formed a Judicial Commission to investigate the matter. FAFEN was the only civil society organization, which was summoned by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to share its election observation findings.
Citizens’ Observation for Electoral Transparency
FAFEN has trained and mobilized hundreds and thousands of citizens to observe various processes of elections in Pakistan. During elections, the trained and non-partisan citizen election observers report back various processes of the election on a specified format. These remarkable men and women brave security odds, scorching temperatures and rugged terrains to provide objective and independent information about the quality of the electoral process to the Pakistani citizens as well as the international community.
General Elections 2008
To observe the General Elections 2008, FAFEN began training long-term observer coordinators in 264 (out of 272) National Assembly constituencies in September 2007. FAFEN's observation of February 18, 2008 general election was helped by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which accredited 20,000 domestic national election observers to observe all processes of the election all over the country. The Network's strategy was for 16,000 paired stationary observers to monitor a random sample of about 8,000 (out of 64,000) polling stations all day, collecting detailed information about voting, counting, and compilation of results. On the Election-Day, thousands of Pakistani men and women observed female and male polling booths and stations using a tailored manual and reporting format. An additional 4,000 mobile observers visited as many as 30,000 polling stations, making the 2008 national and provincial assembly elections the most closely watched in Pakistani history, despite widespread security concerns and enormous logistical obstacles.
Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) Elections 2009
FAFEN observed Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) on November 12, 2009, that was characterized by weak electoral administration, procedural irregularities, erroneous voter lists, and heavy government interference. The competitive election campaign, however, offered fairly equal opportunities to all political and independent contestants. FAFEN deployed 22 trained constituency coordinators and 150 Election-Day observers to observe the Gilgit-Baltistan polls. Trained FAFEN observers visited more than 600 of 1,022 polling stations (59%) to observe the voting and counting processes on the Election-Day.
General Elections 2013
FAFEN observed General Elections 2013 with more than 40,000 citizen observers and issued three short statements on the Election-Day, May 11, and a preliminary statement and report the day after the elections. FAFEN's final analysis was based on the aggregation of comprehensive checklists filled by hand on Election-Day in a statistically-valid random sample of 9,160 polling stations by more than 25,000 static observers and about 15,000 additional mobile observers each visiting two to four polling stations.