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AJK elections: PPP again alleges rigging as polling under way in 2 Muzaffarabad constituencies

The Pakistan Peoples Party renewed allegations of rigging as voting concluded in two Muzaffarabad constituencies in the second phase of Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections. The party accused the PML-N of electoral malpractices, while the PML-N rejected the claims. Polling had been postponed in these constituencies due to landslides and bad weather.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 4, 2026 Published Aug 14

Lead

Voting in two constituencies of Muzaffarabad concluded on Tuesday after being postponed from the scheduled date of August 2 during the second phase of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) elections, as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) again alleged rigging, Dawn reported.

Authorities had postponed polling in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Kutla) and at 71 of the 174 polling stations in LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II (Lachhrat) due to landslides and bad weather that had blocked roads.

Coverage comparison

According to Dawn, the elections in AJK are being held in three phases due to security concerns. Polling was held on seven seats of Muzaffarabad division and 12 refugee seats — reserved seats for refugees from India-occupied Kashmir — on Sunday. The third phase will cover 11 constituencies of Poonch division on August 10.

The first phase, held in AJK's Mirpur division on July 27, saw the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) secure nine of the 13 seats while the PPP won the remaining four.

The two parties, which are allies at the Centre, have been engaged in a war of words since the first phase, with the PPP accusing the PML-N of rigging, violence, and electoral malpractices.

On Tuesday, the PPP posted a complaint on its X account that it said it had sent to the Election Commission. The party claimed that polling staff had been "caught red-handed with official ballot papers and polling bags inside the house of a PML-N supporter, approximately two kilometres from the designated polling site" in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I (Kotla), in union council Bheri.

The PPP also claimed it had "concrete evidence" that polling staff at polling station no. 3 had moved to the private residence of a PML-N candidate and abandoned their post.

In another post, the party shared a complaint addressed to the Election Commission, accusing the PML-N of ballot stuffing at polling stations no. 95 and no. 97 in LA-28 and of obstructing the polling process by barring voters from casting their votes.

Dawn reported that the PPP also shared a statement by PPP Vice President Sherry Rehman on X, in which she said the reports of polling staff being present at a PML-N supporter's residence were concerning. She said videos related to "rigging by the PML-N" had been handed over to the Election Commission as evidence.

Key claims

The PPP alleged rigging, violence, and electoral malpractices against the PML-N.
The party claimed polling staff were found with official ballot papers and polling bags at a PML-N supporter's house in LA-27.
The PPP accused the PML-N of ballot stuffing at polling stations in LA-28 and of obstructing voters.
PML-N leader Tallal Chaudhry rejected the allegations of rigging and told PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to "show grace in defeat," Dawn reported.
Bilawal warned the PML-N that a "countdown" for it had begun and declared that his party's "movement" for people's rights would extend to the entire country.
Election Commission official Khawaja Muhammed Ahsan responded to videos shared by the PPP, saying they were vague and amounted to little more than unverified allegations.

How this outlet told it

Dawn as of Aug 4, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC

Framing: Neutral — Objective

Facts Included:

PPP renewed allegations of rigging on Tuesday
Polling was postponed in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I and LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II due to landslides and bad weather
Elections in AJK are being held in three phases due to security concerns
PML-N had secured nine of the 13 seats in the first phase of polling
PPP accused PML-N of rigging, violence, and electoral malpractices
Tallal Chaudhry rejected allegations of rigging and told Bilawal to 'show grace in defeat'

Read the source article →

Dawn as of Aug 4, 2026, 12:30 PM UTC

Framing: Neutral — Objective

Facts Included:

Voting in two AJK constituencies concluded on Tuesday
PPP again alleged rigging
Election Commission official Khawaja Muhammed Ahsan responded to the videos shared by PPP
PML-N had secured nine of the 13 seats in the first phase of polling
PPP accused PML-N of rigging, violence, and electoral malpractices
Tallal Chaudhry rejected allegations of rigging and told Bilawal to 'show grace in defeat'

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimElections in AJK are being held in three phases due to security concerns.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Dawn as of Aug 4, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC
ClaimThe PML-N had secured nine of the 13 seats in the first phase of polling, while the PPP won the remaining four.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Dawn as of Aug 4, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC
ClaimPolling was postponed in LA-27 Muzaffarabad-I and LA-28 Muzaffarabad-II due to landslides and bad weather.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Dawn as of Aug 4, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC
ClaimThe PPP accused the PML-N of rigging, violence, and electoral malpractices.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Dawn as of Aug 4, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC
ClaimTallal Chaudhry rejected allegations of rigging and told Bilawal to 'show grace in defeat'.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Dawn as of Aug 4, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC
ClaimElection Commission official Khawaja Muhammed Ahsan responded to the videos shared by PPP, saying they are vague and amount to a little more than unverified allegations.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Dawn as of Aug 4, 2026, 12:30 PM UTC
ClaimBilawal warned the PML-N that a 'countdown' for it had begun and declared that his party's 'movement' for people's rights would extend to the entire country.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Dawn as of Aug 4, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 2 articles consulted: Dawn 7 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-14