ISLAMABAD, July 25 -- The voting process in Pakistan's parliamentary elections concluded Wednesday evening and counting of ballots has started, Secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Baber Yaqoob said.
The polling started at 8:00 a.m. local time Wednesday and continued uninterrupted up to 6:00 p.m. local time. Almost all major parties requested the ECP to extend the polling time for one hour, but was rejected by the election body.
However, the people inside the premises of the polling stations before the door closing time are allowed to cast their votes, the ECP official said.
Out of the 272 seats of the 342-member National Assembly, the lower house of the country's parliament, elections took place on 270 seats as polls were postponed on two seats due to multiple reasons, including the death of a candidate.
A huge turnout of voters was observed across the country, but heavy rains in some areas also affected the turnout, local media reported.
Counting started at the polling stations where polling process has been completed. However, the ECP has forbidden all organizations including media houses from announcing the result of any polling station before 7:00 p.m. local time.
According to the ECP, a total of 3,428 candidates contested for the 270 general seats of the lower house, and 8,245 for 570 general seats of the four provincial assemblies, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh. The four provincial assemblies' elections were also held on Wednesday.
Pakistan's lower house has a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected by the people, whereas 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities. The reserved will be allocated to the political parties according to their proportional representation in the house.
A political party or a coalition must secure 172 seats to obtain and preserve a majority in the house and form the government for the next five years.
According to the ECP, over 105.95 million voters registered in the country, including 59.22 million male and 46.73 million female voters, to cast their votes. Overall 83,307 polling stations were established across the country, out of which 17,000 were declared as sensitive.
The Pakistani Army deployed 371,388 troops at all the polling stations to assist around 450,000 personnel from the police and other law enforcement agencies. It was the largest deployment for any election in the country's history, according to the army.
To facilitate the voters, the National Database and Registration Authority issued 650,000 computerized national identity cards over the past five days.
According to the major surveys released recently by agencies including the Topline Securities, Pulse Consultants and Gallup Pakistan, the race to win the elections is between three major parties - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf and former President Asif Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party.
Apart from these parties, several dozen other parties are also taking part in the elections.
Over 30 people, including nine security personnel, have reportedly been killed and over 100 others injured in bomb attacks and firing incidents in different parts of the country on the election day.
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Shandong to Build Nuclear Power Plant with Safety Concerns
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Severe Pollution Prompts Action Calls in China
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):UN Chief Long Way from Getting Syrians Together
EQ and IQ
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修1《Unit 1 School life》
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Tap Water Safe to Drink Beijing Waterworks
结婚第一年你将学到的那些事儿
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Israelis to Vote in General Election
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Rational Online Shopping Recommended Experts
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Irans Nuclear Tech Advances Atomic Chief
2000美元的披萨长啥样 鹅肝、松露配24k黄金
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):High Speed Train Too Expensive
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):How to Make it Easier to See Doctors in Beijing
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Wealthy Chinese Moving Abroad
束腰大衣,蕾丝裙,裸色船鞋 凯特王妃的6大穿搭密术
Ebola vaccine and Native American dance 埃博拉试验性疫苗、印第安青少年表演圈舞
外国人刚来中国,最吃惊的是?
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Santa Maria Mourning Night Club Tragedy
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Petition Sparks Outcry for Labor Camp Reform
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Postgraduates Have No Edge in Job Market
为什么运动之后会酸痛?这个问题怎么解决?
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Little Giants Boosts Acceleration of Economy
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Smartphone related Toys at HKG Toy Fair
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修1《Unit 3 Looking good,feeling good》
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Going Home by Carpooling
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin Gets Underway
2016高考英语总复习精选课件(江苏专用)牛津译林版必修1《Unit 2 Growing pains》
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Yamaguchis Visit May Ease Tensions Expert
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):Pollutant Surge The Major Cause of Smog
2016年冲刺高考CRI英语听力素材练习(word):GE Survey China at 3rd Most Innovative Country