In a statement on Monday, the electoral watchdog claimed that Fafen’s analysis of the initial constituencies was “flawed” and based on a misunderstanding of the criteria used for seat distribution.

“These modifications involved merging several districts to achieve balanced population representation and reallocating the number of seats for both national and provincial assemblies across different districts,” it added.

The ECP clarified that it had allocated 266 National Assembly seats to provinces based on population, however, Fafen’s “misunderstanding incorrectly” treated provinces, not districts, as the unit for seat allocation, causing confusion.

Section 20 of the Elections Act 2017 covered constituency rules, the polls overseer reminded and added that the rationale for constituency changes was explained in the initial constituency report.

The ECP emphasised that recent amendments to the Elections Act 2017, including a new provision in Section 20(3), no longer required the commission to “strictly adhere” to current district boundaries when such adherence would result in a population variance exceeding 10 per cent, aiming for more equitable elections.