(MENAFN- Pajhwok Afghan News)
PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Amid tight security, tens of millions of Pakistanis began casting ballots in the 2024 general election on Thursday morning.
More than 128 million Pakistanis, including 59.3 million women (46 percent), are eligible to vote in the parliamentary polls.
Over 17,000 candidates are in the run for national and provincial assembly seats, says the Election Commission of Pakistan.
According to the election panel, 12,695 candidates are running for provincial assemblies and 5,121 for National Assembly seats. The contestants include 882 females.
A record number of 11,785 independents are also in the race, including 11,174 males, 607 females and four transgender people.
At least 648,000 security personnel have been deployed, including 137,000 military and 511,000 police officials to ensure the safety of voters and polling staff.
Ex-premier Nawaz Sharif could be voted to power for the fourth time, believes US-based media outlets The Washington Post and Bloomberg.
In Islamabad, a team of Commonwealth Observer Group (COG) and foreign observers visited different polling stations and voiced satisfaction with the ongoing polling process.
The voting process, which began at 8.00am, will continue until 5.00pm. The ballot count will start immediately after voting.
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