The vote count started immediately after the polling held from 8am to 5pm in 3,016 union councils but there was no indication even after midnight about which groups were leading.
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao acknowledged at least 19 deaths from election-related violence across the country, but figures given by other sources, including police, brought the total to 29.
Most of the violence took place in the Punjab province where 19 people were reported killed. At least five people were killed in the North-West Frontier Province and four in Sindh and one in Balochistan.
Mr Sherpao, appearing on a private television channel, blamed the Punjab violence on what he called an entrenched system of “biradries”.
Polling was held in 53 districts of the four provinces in the first phase of the local body elections on Aug 18 when about 15 people were killed in the violence.
The third phase of the elections to the district and tehsil nazims will be held on Sept 29.
Although the elections were officially held on non-party basis, most of the candidates for members and nazims of union councils were backed by various groups and political parties.
These groups included “Khushaal Pakistan” and “Roshan Khayal” of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, “Awam Dost” of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), “Jamhooriat Nawaz” of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, “al-Khidmat” of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and “Haq Parast” of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Other smaller parties had their own groups.
It will take some days for the official results to be announced by the Election Commission, but political sources said the PML and its allies were likely to lead both in the most populous provinces of Punjab and Sindh where opposition parties made most complaints of government-sponsored vote-rigging though the PPP and PML-N also made a strong showing.
The overall scenario was mixed in the MMA-ruled NWFP and Balochistan, where PML-led ruling coalition includes the MMA. But political sources said the MMA suffered setback in both these provinces and did not do as well as in the 2002 general elections.
The Election Commission had no nationwide percentage of voter turnout even after midnight. However, acting Chief Election Commissioner Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar told reporters the turnout was about 60 per cent in Punjab.
Women were barred from voting in some remote districts of the NWFP under agreements between contestant groups in defiance of orders to ensure freedom of voting by women.
PUNJAB: Of the 19 people reported killed in Punjab, six in Lahore district. Police attributed six of the total deaths to incidents not related to the polls, but other sources claimed all 19 were poll-related deaths.
A Punjab police spokesman said 70 people were arrested and 122 automatic weapons were seized in the province.
Many people complained of frequent display of arms, especially in Lahore, and failure of police to launch a crackdown against illicit weapons before the polling day as ordered by provincial police chief Ziaul Hasan.
In Lahore district, two people were shot dead and three injured in a crossfire between two rival groups at Maraka village in Manga Mandi. Troops were called in when the situation deteriorated.
Three people were killed in two separate incidents in Kahna, where the brother of a candidate allegedly opened fire, killing a supporter of the rival candidate on the spot. Two other people got bullet wounds and died in a nearby hospital after two groups clashed. Another man was shot dead in Shalamar Town.
Reports from other districts said three people each died in Faisalabad and Narowal, two each in Jhang and Sheikhupura and one each in Jhelum and Okara.
Three people were killed in Rawalpindi district. Tight security arrangements had been made to maintain peace in the province. Troops had joined police and other law enforcement agencies in 11 districts of the province, which had been declared sensitive by the Punjab government.
In Lahore, polling was marked by lower than expected turnout in most places due to mismanagement. Minorities and women also did not show much enthusiasm, according to reports. There were mixed reports about low turnout from other districts.
Many candidates in various places complained that their election symbols had not been printed on ballot papers. At some places, the polling staff stopped the polling without giving any reason. At other places, voters were told to come later as the polling staff were sorting out ballot papers.
At some polling stations, the polling staff did not turn up for duty. The polling staff invariably complained that they were not provided with enough stationery and other material.
Polling was delayed for up to two hours at many polling stations because owing to the late arrival of polling staff. A large number of school teachers performing election duty were not properly trained in the new polling rules introduced after joint electorate.
The PML-backed Nazims and Naib Nazims were seen roaming about polling booths in violation of the ban imposed by the Election Commission.
In Faisalabad, massive irregularities, flaws in the polling scheme, non-availability of the required material, late arrival of the staff and poor arrangements were witnessed during elections in 289 union councils of the district.
In Mianwali and Bhakkar, poor turnout in the morning disappointed the candidates and their respective bigwigs who were expecting a heavy turnout.
Though tension was observed on various polling stations and some armed men (with camouflaged weapons) from rival groups were seen positioned at a distance from polling stations to monitor the situation. In urban areas, people also faced difficulty in tracing their names in the voters’ list officially provided to polling staff.
Hundreds of people were arrested in Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib district on charge of violating election code of conduct and taking law in their own hands.
SINDH: Polling in 12 districts of lower and upper Sindh was marred by target killings, violence and firing resulting in the death of four persons — three in Larkana and one in Khairpur.
Those in Larkana appeared to be target killings as one of the victims, who had tried to escape, was chased and killed. The killings took place in the presence of the law enforcers.
The fourth person was killed in election-related clashes in Khairpur, where 22 other persons were also injured. Polling remained suspended at many polling stations.
In Sukkur district, 20 persons were injured and 30 were arrested for violence and firing incidents. Ballot boxes were also snatched in Sukkur and Pano Aqil and many polling stations were stormed by the armed youth in presence of the law -enforcement agencies.
Clashes and incidents of firing were also reported in Matiari, Tando Muhammad Khan, Dadu and Jamshoro districts. Superintendent of Police (investigation) Dadu was detained for several hours by another law-enforcement agency as he was reportedly interfering in the election process.
Even before the elections, the Awam Dost leaders, including former federal minister Zafar Leghari, former zila nazim of the defunct Dadu district, Malik Asad Sikandar, and PPP MNA from Jamshoro district, Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur had levelled allegations of high-handedness against the SP.
In Hyderabad district, city and Latifabad talukas were worst affected as firing was reported from almost all the constituencies of Latifabad and many union councils of Hyderabad city. More than one dozen persons were injured. The violence in Hyderabad led to a boycott of elections by the MMA one hour before the polling closed. The zonal in charge of MQM, Siraj Rajput, was picked up by security forces and was not released until late at night.