Alwaght- Polling stations are open to millions of Pakistanis who are ready to make the second democratic transition of power in the nation's 70-year coup-studded history.
Nearly 106 million people are registered to vote for members of the lower house of parliament and four provincial assemblies.
Up to 800,000 police and military forces have been stationed at more than 85,000 polling stations across the country as votes are cast for 272 National Assembly seats that are directly contestable.
The PTI party of cricket player turned anti-corruption crusader Imran Khan is hoping to beat party of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
A decade after Pakistan was last ruled by a military government, the election has been plagued by allegations the powerful armed forces have been trying to tilt the race in Khan’s favor after falling out with the outgoing ruling party of Sharif, who was jailed on corruption charges this month.
The most recent opinion polls say the two parties are running neck-and-neck. Khan has emerged as a slight favorite in national polls, but the divisive race is likely to come down to Punjab, the country’s most populous province, where Sharif’s party has clung to its lead in recent surveys.
Polls are due to close at 6 p.m (1300 GMT). Results will start trickling in within hours, and the likely winner should be known by around 2 a.m. on Thursday.
An anti-corruption crusader, Khan has promised an “Islamic welfare state” and cast his populist campaign as a battle to topple a predatory political elite hindering development in the impoverished mostly-Muslim nation of 208 million people, where the illiteracy rate hovers above 40 percent.
