Gilgit Baltistan elections: polling ends, vote counting underway as preliminary results begin to emerge

Gilgit: Vote counting is underway for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly elections, while unofficial and preliminary results have started coming in from various constituencies.

According to Election Commission sources, the polling process began in the morning and continued uninterrupted until 5:00 p.m. Polling concluded across all 24 constituencies, after which the vote-counting process commenced.

Sources said that polling station gates were closed immediately after the official polling time ended. However, voters who were already present in queues before 5:00 p.m. were allowed to cast their ballots.

Voting was completed at all 1,391 polling stations established across Gilgit-Baltistan. Security remained on high alert at sensitive and highly sensitive polling stations throughout the electoral process.

Meanwhile, a close contest is expected among the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and other political parties. The PPP fielded 23 candidates, while PML-N had 22 candidates in the race.

In addition, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) fielded nine candidates, Islami Tehreek Pakistan 10 candidates, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) seven candidates, and the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) 15 candidates.

Furthermore, the Pakistan Nazriyati Party also participated in the elections with 10 candidates contesting various constituencies.

Election officials are continuing the counting process, and more unofficial results are expected to be released in the coming hours.