Live: Elections 2024

There are elements of the 2018 election atmosphere — allegations of pre-poll rigging and an unfair contest, fears about manipulation and security threats — but they feel even more pronounced as the head of the country’s most popular party — and his party symbol — are out of the race.

Camp PML-N oozes the cool confidence of a would-be victor — a sharp contrast from the last election when the three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif was incarcerated. Then his party was the clear underdog, but the situation could not be more different today. With a campaign largely confined to Punjab launched as late as mid-January, the Sharif family flew to and from rallies in a helicopter, and had to often exit early as they explained to their supporters that they had to fly out before darkness.

What does their voter think? “Nawaz Sharif has the magic wand, and he will wave it when he comes to power,” a supporter told me in a busy market in central Punjab. But he warned: “We are prepared to wait for the economic situation to improve, but this time he must complete his term.”

No doubt, his return to Pakistan has reinvigorated the party and its vote bank, but was there enough fire in his public engagements? Will it help the PML-N cross that coveted three-digit threshold to make government?

Read more here.

Outside a polling station in Islamabad, 22-year-old psychology student Haleema Shafiq says she is determined to vote.

“I believe in democracy. I want a government that can make Pakistan safer for girls,” she told AFP.

But another voter expressed the doubts of many.

“My only fear is whether my vote will be counted for the same party I cast it for. At the same time, for the poor it does not matter who is ruling — we need a government that can control inflation,” said Syed Tassawar, a 39-year-old construction worker.

PTI Information Secretary Raoof Hasan has told AFP that the internet outage “will impede the work that our activists are doing on the ground to get people to the polling stations”.

“The physical space given to us has been completely cut out so we are totally dependent on connectivity through the net,” he said.

Strict arrangements have been made for security in Karachi’s district Korangi, said SSP Hassan Sardar Ahmed Khan.

He said that the polling process had started and 5,271 police personnel were posted on election duty for security.

District Korangi has 725 polling stations out of which 509 polling stations have been declared highly sensitive and 216 sensitive, he said.

NetBlocks, a global internet watchdog, has said that the ongoing internet suspension in Pakistan was “inherently undemocratic” and known to “cause irregularities in the voting process”.

“The ongoing election day internet blackout in Pakistan is amongst the largest we’ve observed in any country in terms of severity and extent,” NetBlocks director Alp Toker told AFP.

“The practice is inherently undemocratic and is known to limit the work of independent election observers and cause irregularities in the voting process.”

Dawn.com staff Siham Basir witnessed a “dismal” voter turnout at a polling station in Karachi’s NA-241 constituency. She said the lines were not very long at the Government Girls College, Zamzama and by the time she left, there was no line at all.

“One polling officer seemed completely untrained because she was not even able to cross our names out let alone find our names efficiently. The greatest inefficiency was in checking the electoral rolls,” she said.

“At my polling station, there were a lot of elderly people — people in wheelchairs and using walking sticks — but they were made to walk up a flight of stairs instead of a facility being made available on the ground floor. I witnessed one elderly man being carried up in his wheelchair and one man having to physically lift his mother up the stairs so she could vote,” she noted.

“Despite going at 8am and being among the first people there, some of the polling agents were rude and were yelling. They also didn’t check for mobile phones — a man pulled out his phone in front of me to ask the presiding officer something,” she said.

The Faisalabad police have uprooted the camps set up by candidates outside polling station number 340 at MC High School in the district’s NA-101 constituency.

According to Dawn.com correspondent Kashif Hussain, the camps were uprooted as they were established within a distance of 100 metres from the polling station, which was against the rules.

Video footage showed policemen tearing down party banners and uprooting polling camps of the PML-N and other candidates.

A low voter turnout was reported at a polling station in North Nazimabad’s Block I for Karachi’s NA-250 constituency.

Dawn.com staffer Mashael Shah said she reached the Ibrahim Ali Bhai Govt School at 10am to cast her vote, adding that attendance was thin.

“It took five minutes to go in and vote and there was practically no wait,” she said. She further said that only the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) had set up a camp outside the polling station.

The polling process has started in Karachi’s district Central, according to SSP District Central Zeeshan Shafique Siddiqui.

More than 2.1 million voters are exercising their right to vote at a total of 391 polling buildings and 1,255 polling stations, he said, adding that police had made full security arrangements in this regard.

He said that 685 polling stations have been declared highly sensitive while 570 polling stations have been declared sensitive. More than 8,900 male and female police officers have been deputed for security while 7,645 officers are posted at polling stations, he added.

The highly sensitive polling stations are also being monitored with the help of CCTV cameras, according to the SSP.

With around 5,000 candidates contesting for 265 National Assembly seats today, things are expected to get quite chaotic when results start trickling in later in the evening. With voters eager to find out if their favoured candidates are ahead and where their favourite party stands in the race to ‘win’ the general election, every single constituency will count.

Amidst the hundreds of contests today, there are some that will be more closely watched than others, for a variety of reasons. These could include areas which are battleground constituencies due to their swing potential, areas where two or more strong candidates are contesting, or areas which are likely to see heightened tensions due to the prominence or history of the people involved.

Given the contestants’ political mettle, these will not be easy fights for any of the candidates involved.

Read the full story here.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that its central election monitoring control centre in Islamabad is “fully functional” and is in “constant communication” with its regional and district-level counterparts.

In a press release, monitoring centre in-charge Haroon Khan Shinwari said Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja was present at the premises to supervise the electoral process.

“The polling process is under way in a peaceful manner,” the electoral watchdog stated, adding that “no complaints have been received as yet from anywhere”.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that mobile phone services in the country must be restored “immediately”.

He further said that he has asked the party to approach the Election Commission of Pakistan and the courts in this regard.

Shortly before polling began, mobile phone signals were shut down “temporarily” at the interior ministry’s directives over security issues, prompting criticism from politicians and journalists.

In a statement, the ministry said, “Recent surge in terrorist activities resulting in precious lives have stirred security environment in the country.”

Therefore, it added, “need has arisen to take measures to safeguard against” security threats.

Caretaker Federal Minister for Information Murtaza Solangi has said that “voting is a part of patriotism”.

“Voting is your national duty. The country’s democratic future and your well-being depend on you stepping out of your homes to perform your national and democratic duty,” he said after casting his vote in Islamabad’s NA-46.

Former PTI leader Asad Umar has underscored the “power” of voting in a post on X.

“The greatest power a citizen has in a democratic country is the power of their vote. In our system, this option is given only once in five years. That’s why today is a special day. Use your power. Vote according to your conscience and thinking,” he stated.

Internet monitor Netblocks has said that real-time data shows that internet blackouts are now in effect in “multiple regions of Pakistan in addition to mobile network disruptions”.

“The incident comes on election day and follows months of digital censorship targeting the political opposition,” it said.

This comes after mobile phone signals were shut down “temporarily” at the interior ministry’s directives over security issues.

In a statement, the ministry said, “Recent surge in terrorist activities resulting in precious lives have stirred security environment in the country.”

Therefore, it added, “need has arisen to take measures to safeguard against” security threats.

Caretaker Federal Minister for Information Murtaza Solangi has cast the first vote at a polling station in Islamabad’s NA-46.

According to PTV News, the minister reached the polling station before voting began at 8am and cast the first vote.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has said that he hoped that the election process will be “free and fair” and will conclude safely. He stressed that shutting down or allowing internet and mobile services was beyond the ECP’s mandate.

“We have clarified multiple times that our system is not dependent on the internet — it will not affect our preparations,” he told the media outside the ECP office in Islamabad.

He further said that the ECP did not give any instructions to the interior ministry regarding internet services. “This is the decision of the law and order agencies. We can only give our recommendations,” he said.

“If we give them directions [to open mobile services] and if there is any incident, then who will be responsible?” he asked.

The PTI has termed the suspension of mobile services across the country an “infuriating betrayal” by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

It referred to the PTA’s earlier statement of receiving no instructions from the government to block internet services

“Shutting down phone service is a deliberate suppression of citizens’ rights and a mockery of democracy,” the party said in a post.

The polling process has begun across Swat with security placed at all sensitive polling stations, reports Dawn News’ Murad Ali Khan.

The first vote has been cast at the polling station in Haji Baba School, he reports from Swat’s NA-3. “In all constituencies of Swat, the polling process has started. Security has been placed in great numbers at all sensitive polling stations,” he said.

“In Swat, the polling process has begun in a peaceful atmosphere. This is a national cause, it is a big day for us. Security is made foolproof after a month of homework,” Swat District Police Officer Shafiullah Gandapur told Dawn News.

“We have deployed more than 6,500 police personnel, along with the support from FC North and the Pakistan army,” he added.

Internet monitor Netblocks has said that live network data shows a “disruption to mobile internet in Pakistan with high impact to second-largest operator Zong”.

The data corroborated widespread user reports of outages, it added.

Former PPP senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has said that the shutting down of mobile services on polling dat “is the beginning of election day rigging”.

“Pre-poll environment was already one of the worst in Pakistan’s history. Cutting candidates off from their agents and staff on election day is unacceptable,” he said.

“How’s one supposed to keep a check and highlight any irregularity? By the time news comes out, election would have been stolen,” he said.

Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi has said that “all registered political parties are being given equal opportunities for contesting the elections”.

According to Radio Pakistan, Solangi told DW News that the caretaker government has “shown full commitment to its mandate and role” to assist the electoral watchdog in conducting the polls.

Islamabad police has said that security at polling stations is on alert.

“The [police] personnel reached the polling stations across the territory yesterday morning. As long as the polling stations are staffed, security will remain alert.

“Along with 6,500 personnel of Islamabad police, 1,000 FC, 1,500 Rangers and Pakistan Army personnel are performing their duties in the federal capital,” it said.

Former prime minister Imran Khan and other prominent incarcerated political figures have cast their votes through a postal ballot from Adiala Jail, sources said.

Other political leaders who have managed to vote by mail included former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid, and former information minister Fawad Chaudhry.

However, Bushra Bibi, was unable to partake in the voting as she was convicted and arrested after the completion of the postal voting process.

Read the full story here.

The interior ministry has decided to “temporarily suspend mobile services across the country” in light of the “deteriorating security situation”.

In a statement, the ministry said, “Recent surge in terrorist activities resulting in precious lives have stirred security environment in the country.”

Therefore, it added, “need has arisen to take measures to safeguard against” security threats.

Geo News is reporting that mobile phone services have been disrupted in several parts of the country, including Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar.

With 56m of the voters below the age of 35, and roughly 29m in the 36-45 bracket, Pakistan’s younger generations are in a position to heavily influence the results. There is also a marked gender imbalance in the electoral rolls, with women voters accounting for only 46 per cent of all registered voters.

Voters will elect 266 candidates to the National Assembly, who will later, by a majority vote, elect the next prime minister. Simultaneously, voters will also elect representatives to their respective provincial assemblies, who will then elect the provincial chief executives under a similar process. Elections have been postponed in one national and three provincial assembly constituencies due to the deaths of contesting candidates. These are NA-8 (Bajaur), PK-22 (Bajaur), PK-91 (Kohat) and PP-266 (Rahim Yar Khan). Voters elsewhere will cast two votes each — one for each of the two assemblies.

In all, 17,816 candidates are in the running, of which 12,695 will be contesting for provincial assembly seats and 5,121 for the National Assembly. They include 16,930 males, 882 females and four transgender persons. Of these, 6,031 candidates — 5,726 males and 275 females — are contesting on a political party’s ticket. The remaining 11,785 are contesting as independents, of which 11,174 are males, 607 females and four transgender persons.

US Congressman Bill Huizenga has urged the government of Pakistan to “prioritise free and fair elections, due process, the rule of law and respect for human rights”.