KARACHI – Voting is underway in 41 cantonment boards across Pakistan amid strict security on Sunday.
The polling process began at 8am and will continue until 5pm without any pause.
1,560 candidates are contesting against each other in 206 wards in the cantonment boards. However, seven candidates have been elected unopposed so far.
It is pertinent to mention here that the election will not take place in Kamra Cantonment Board, while polls have been postponed in one ward each in Rawalpindi and Pano Aqil.
Most of the candidates — 684 — are independent, while as many as 876 belong to different political parties. The ruling PTI has fielded the most candidates — 183.
Similarly, the PML-N has fielded 144, PPP 113, JI 104, the outlawed TLP 83, MQM-P 42, PSP 35, PML-Q 34, and JUI-F 25 candidates.
Meanwhile, in 20 of Punjab’s cantonment boards, four candidates — two each from Multan and Attock — have been elected unopposed, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said.
Mohammad Salman Iqbal, Saima Aashiq, Mohammad Yaqub Nasir, and Mohammad Sadiq have been elected unopposed as councilors, the ECP said.
Therefore, of the 114 of Punjab’s cantonment boards, polling will take place in 110, the Election Commission said.
Meanwhile, in Kamra Cantonment Board, no candidate has filed nomination papers in all four of the wards and therefore, polling will not take place there.
It is pertinent to mention here that not a single woman candidate is contesting elections in Lahore. However, 357 polling stations have been set up for 606,628 voters in the city. 269 candidates are contesting elections for 20 wards in Lahore. Out of the total, 241 polling stations have been declared sensitive and 44 most sensitive.