Voters will not be admitted to queues after 6pm but if you reach your polling station before then and successfully join the line, you will be allowed to vote.

Just make sure you follow these steps to make it easier:

Step one: Before you go to vote, make sure to obtain your polling station's name and address, block code number and silsila number by texting your CNIC number to 8300. The last three digits of the block code number signify the room you will be voting in at your polling station. The silsila number will be your serial number on the voter lists lying with the polling officers.

Take your original CNIC, your block code and your silsila number with you when you go vote.

Step two: Polling officers will check your silsila number on their lists and cross out your name on the list.

Step three: The assistant presiding officers will sign and stamp the back of a green ballot paper (for the NA) and the back of a white ballot paper (for the PA).

They will also write down your silsila number and CNIC number on the papers and ask you to put your thumbprint alongside them on each of the papers. Then they will draw a line in ink on your thumb at the base of your nail.

Step four: Wait for your turn to go into the polling booth. When there, stamp the symbols of your preferred candidate(s) for the NA and provincial assemblies. Make sure the ink on your stamps is dry before you fold the paper up to ensure that the ink does not get onto other symbols, thereby causing your vote to be uncountable.

The doors of the polling stations will be closed after 6pm. However, voters who are inside the stations when the gates close will be allowed to register their vote.

Opinion

Editorial

Missing in action
17 Mar, 2026

Missing in action

NOT exactly known for playing a proactive role in protecting the interests of Muslim nations and populations...
Risk to stability
Updated 17 Mar, 2026

Risk to stability

THE risks to Pakistan’s fragile economic recovery from the US-Israel war on Iran cannot be dismissed. Yet the...
Enrolment push
17 Mar, 2026

Enrolment push

THE federal government has embarked upon the welcome initiative to enrol 25,000 out-of-school children in Islamabad...
Holding the line
16 Mar, 2026

Holding the line

PAKISTAN’S long battle against polio has recently produced encouraging signs. Data from the national eradication...
Power self-reliance
Updated 16 Mar, 2026

Power self-reliance

PAKISTAN’S transition to domestic sources of electricity is a welcome development for a country that has long been...
Looking for safety
16 Mar, 2026

Looking for safety

AS the Middle East conflict enters its third week, the war’s most enduring victims are not those who wage it....