VOTING BEGINS FOR BYPOLLS FOR 35 SEATS IN PAKISTAN

opened Sunday for the by-election in 35 national and provincial assemblies in Pakistan amid heightened security, with over 600 candidates in the running. The polling started at 8am and will continue until 5pm.

The counting will start soon after closure of voting and result of every polling station would be announced on spot. However, the consolidated results would be announced later.

Over five million registered voters will exercise their right to vote. Also, the overseas Pakistanis will be voting for the first time in the by-polls.

Elections are being held in nine national assembly constituencies in Punjab and one each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 24 provincial assemblies seats, including 11 in Punjab, nine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two each in Sindh and Balochistan. Most of these seats were vacated by those candidates who had won on more than one seat during general elections on July 25. PM Imran Khan had won five seats and vacated four.

Thousands of soldiers have been deployed to provide security at 7,489 polling stations. The deployment of troops started on Friday and they will remain on election duty till October 15.

The Election Commission designated as many as 1,727 polling stations as ‘highly sensitive’ where extra troops were deployed and security cameras installed. They include 848 polling stations in Punjab, 544 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 201 in Sindh and 134 in Balochistan.

Soldiers have been deployed inside and outside of the polling stations.