Voting for five national and 21 provincial seats has ended amid the temporary suspension of cellular services in specific districts of Punjab and Balochistan to safeguard the electoral process, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

A political worker was killed and several others injured in clashes between supporters of rival political parties as polling for five National Assembly (NA) and 16 provincial assemblies’ seats was underway on Sunday, which lasted until 5:00 pm without any break.

The authorities have deployed the Army as a quick reaction force and slapped Section 144 in all districts where voting was being held today.

As per TV channel reports, the turnout so far the healthy as people in great numbers are actively taking part in the polling process.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the polling was being held on five National Assembly seats, 12 Punjab Assembly seats, two seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and two seats of Balochistan Assembly.

The Election Commission has set up Election Monitoring and Control Centres to register and address public complaints during the by-elections.

These Centres are located at provincial, divisional and district levels, in addition to the Election Commission Secretariat in Islamabad.

As per the ECP, repolling in the Balochistan Assembly constituency, PB-50, Qila Abdullah is also being held today while by-polls for the five National Assembly seats would be held in NA-8, Bajaur, NA-44, Dera Ismael Khan, NA 119, Lahore, NA-132, Kasur and NA-196, Qambar Shahdadkot.
Total of 174 candidates are vying for 12 Punjab Assembly (PP) seats. There are a total of 40,44,552 registered voters in these constituencies, where 2,601 polling stations have been set up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dwoERy5xWc

In all 49 candidates will be competing for two Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (PK) seats in the by-elections and the number of registered voters in these constituencies stands at 14,71,000, while out of 892 polling stations set up for the purpose, 139 have been declared ‘sensitive’.
Two candidates were competing against each other in the by-election for NA-196, Qambar Shahdadkot, Sindh. There are total 423, 781 registered voters in the constituency, where 303 polling stations have been set up, out of which 158 have been declared ‘sensitive’.
Similarly, by-polls are being held for two Balochistan Assembly seats, PB-20 and PB-22 today. The number of registered voters in these constituencies stands at 396,246, while 354 polling stations have been set up.

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Today, the by-elections for four seats in KP; two NA, NA-8, Bajaur and NA-44, DI Khan and two PK; PK-22, Bajaur and PK-91, Kohat are being held.
The Election Commission has set up Election Monitoring and Control Centers to register and address public complaints during the by-elections. These Centers are located at provincial, divisional and district levels, in addition to the Election Commission Secretariat in Islamabad.

Internet, phone services suspended in 13 Punjab districts

Mobile phone and internet services has been partically suspended in differtn cities of Punjab and Balochistan due to security reasons on the polling day.
Mobile phone and internet services in 13 districts of Punjab including Lahore, Talagang, Chakwal, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Kallar Kahar, Gujrat, Sadiqabad, DG Khan, Ali Pur Chatha, Bakkhar City, Zafarwal, and Kot Chutta has been suspended. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_yUatiiRp8

Govt deploys Army troops for by-elections

The federal government has deployed civil armed forces and Pakistan Army troops as part of tight security arrangements for the polling day.
Civil Armed Forces and Pakistan Army troops will be used as Quick Response Force and as second and third tiers. Civil Armed Forces and Pakistan Army troops are available in 21 constituencies till April 22.

Seats up for grabs

The general elections for Bajaur’s NA-8 and PK-22 had been postponed because of the murder of candidate Rehan Zeb Khan.

As for NA-44, Dera Ismail Khan, the constituency was vacated by PTI-backed Ali Amin Gandapur, who retained his provisional assembly seat to become KP’s chief minister. Similarly, Lahore’s NA-119 was vacated by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who preferred to become an MPA from PP-159.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif won polls for two NA and two provincial legislature seats. He left the NA-132, Kasur, as well as Lahore’s PP-158 and PP-164 seats vacant, and retained NA-123, Lahore, seat.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari won two seats in the NA. He retained NA-194, Larkana, seat and left NA-196, Qamber Shahdadkot, seat vacant. PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari vacated NA-207, Shaheed Benazirabad, seat to be elected as the country’s president. Zardari’s daughter, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, has already been elected unopposed from the seat vacated by her father.

The polls for KP Assembly seat PK-91, Kohat, were postponed after the death of an ANP leader. A Sindh Assembly seat fell vacant after the death of Abdul Aziz Junejo, who won elections from PS-80, Dadu. In Balochistan, BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal retained the NA-256 seat and left Khuzdar’s PB-20 seat vacant.

In Punjab, PML-N leader Ghulam Abbas retained NA-53, Rawalpindi, seat and left PP-22 seat.

Similarly, PML-Q’s Chaudhry Salik Hussain retained NA-64 and vacated PP-32, Gujrat, seat.

The PP-36, Wazirabad, seat fell vacant after Muhammad Ahmad Chattha did not take oath. The PP-54, Narowal, seat fell vacant as PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal did not take oath. He preferred to retain NA-76, Narowal, seat. Shei­k­hupura’s PP-139, fell vacant because PML-N’s Ra­­­na Tanveer did not take oath. Like­wise, the prime minister’s son Hamza Shehbaz did not take oath for PP-147, Lahore.

PP-149 from Lahore fell vacant because Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party’s Aleem Khan retained the city’s NA-117 seat. The polls for PP-266, Rahim Yar Khan, were postponed because of the death of a candidate. The PP-290, Dera Ghazi Khan, was declared vacant after Awais Leghari did not take the oath.

Reporters Rao Dilshad, Amer Shahzad, Essa Tareen