When voters made it to the polling stations for Islamabad’s local government elections on Saturday, they found out that there were no arrangements to vote. But their right of representation wasn’t the only loser in this exercise as huge sums of money are in danger of being lost as well.

According to sources, the election commission estimated that around Rs500 million were spent by campaigning candidates as part of their campaign. Reports say that the commission surveyed a portion of Islamabad to generalize the result. However, the actual figure might be higher.

A total of 3,976 candidates had submitted nomination papers for 101 Union Councils (UCs). Elections are fought as 13-member panels, with parties generally running a combined campaign for the whole panel.

Every UC has seats for a chairman and vice chairman candidate along with six general members, two women members, one ‘peasant’ worker, one youth member and one minority candidate. Parties usually field candidates for all 13 seats together so they run a combined campaign.

If the ECP figures are considered accurate, the expenses usually come to around Rs5 million per UC. But converstions Aaj News had with multiple candidates in Islamabad indicated that in many UCs this amount was spent by a single party.

A PTI candidate for the UC chairmanship said that though total expenses are hard to track, his party had spent between Rs3.5 million to Rs4 million in the campaign. He added that while a campaign’s visibility in terms of posters and camps only becomes apparent in the last month, the actual work begin months ago.

Candidates from PML-N also gave a similar response. One candidate for the chairmanship said that around Rs2 million spent on the campaign in his UC had been spent from his own funds while many expenses were paid by party funds or by supporters.

According to Jamat-e-Islami, their spending was far lower than other parties. A chairman candidate in sectoral Islamabad said that he had not spent more than Rs250,000 on his campaign. However, he added that JI spends a lot less than other parties who ‘start in the millions’. He also agreed with the other candidates that it was hard to give an exact amount since expenditures are made by many sources.

Only one candidate quoted a number higher than the average according to ECP’s estimate. This candidate, a part of PPP’s panel for a UC from the rural part of Islamabad, said that Rs10 million had been spent for the campaign. And this is not a rough estimate. The candidate said that his panel’s members had receipts showing that this number had indeed been reached.

With multiple parties contesting every UC and every panel made up of 13 members, it seems unlikely that an average of Rs5 million was spent as a total. The likely amount of money spent, and consequently in danger of being lost due to the election’s delay, is much higher than the Rs500 million projected by the UC.

According to reports, the commission itself spent almost Rs50 million on making arrangements for the election. However, not all of this money is lost. Around Rs15 million was said to have been spent on purchasing equipment, some of which will be usable whenever the election takes place.

Kunwar Dilshad, the former secretary of the ECP said that it was unlikely that the ECP’s projected amount could be very accurate since there is simply no way to know for sure how much money is spent in the course of an election campaign.

“Campaign expenses go beyond just banners and posters. We’ve heard that many voters asked candidates to get roads fixed or houses renovated,” he said. “These sort of expenses are paid by the candidates themselves, not by parties.” He added that party funds aren’t easily doled out for campaigns, especially at local government levels, because the top leadership keep the funds pretty close to themselves.

He added that if the elections are conducted within a few weeks, the campaign expenses should not be considered lost money.

(With additional input from our reporter Tania Gohar in Islamabad)