The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected a petition seeking to halt the recounting of votes in Mansehra’s PK-40, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reports.

The electoral watchdog turned down the plea citing Section 95 subsection 5 of the Election Act 2014, which authorises the returning officer to recount votes if the margin of victory is less than 5 per cent.

According to APP, PML-N candidate Sardar Shahjahan acknowledged his victory with a narrow margin of 332 votes in the general elections.

The report added that the petitioner failed to furnish substantial evidence to permit halting the recounting process.

Following the ECP’s directives, the RO has continued the recounting of votes. As of now, more than 100 polling stations’ votes have been recounted out of a total of 173 polling stations in PK-40 Mansehra. The entire process is expected to conclude within the next four days.