Polling for local government elections in the country’s 39 cantonment boards is underway.
The voting process started at 8am and will continue till 5pm without any break.
According to the ECP, over 5,000 polling booths have been set up in 1,644 polling stations. A total of 2,197,441 voters, including 1,154,551 men and 1,043,190 women, are registered in all the 42 cantonment boards.
There are 42 cantonment boards all over the country but no polling is scheduled in Kamra, Cherat and Murree cantonments. Besides, candidates have already been elected unopposed in several wards of various cantonments.
A total of 1,513 candidates are in the run for 206 general seats in as many wards of the cantonment boards. Though all major political parties have fielded their candidates, but a close contest is expected among the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
878 candidates are in the field in 112 wards of 19 cantonments in Punjab, 418 in 53 wards of eight cantonments in Sindh, 170 candidates in 33 wards of nine cantonments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and 47 candidates in eight wards of three cantonments in Balochistan.
The ruling PTI has fielded over 170 candidates in all the four provinces, followed by 140 of the PML-N and 112 of the PPP. 105 candidates of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) are in the run in the four provinces.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) have fielded 41 and 33 candidates, respectively, in the cantonment boards in Karachi and Hyderabad.
