Polling is underway for 52 Upper House (Senate) seats in Pakistan as federal and provincial lawmakers are casting their votes on Thursday to elect new senators to replace those who retire on completion of their six-year term.
According to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 84 candidates will contest for 33 general seats from the provinces, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the federal capital, 22 for eight seats reserved for women from the provinces and the federal capital and 18 for eight seats reserved for technocrats, including Ulema (religious scholars).
Eight candidates will contest for two seats reserved for minorities one each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan province.
Election for half of Senate seats takes place every three years. The Senate comprises of 104 members, 23 each from the four provinces, eight from Fata and four from Islamabad.
The seats allocated to a province comprise 14 general seats, four reserved for women, four for technocrats and one for a minority member.
The provincial assemblies had been declared polling stations for the respective provinces and the National Assembly for four senators from Fata and two from Islamabad.
No person entering the assemblies' premises was allowed to carry their cell phones or any other electronic devices with them as per ECP directives.
In a late night development, President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain had issued two ordinances; one dealing with the conduct of local government elections in cantonment boards, and the other dealing with the voting rights of lawmakers from the tribal areas.
The lawmakers from religious political party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PP) accused members of parties from KPK's ruling coalition of taking ballot papers outside assembly premises.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan took notice of rigging allegations during polls for Senate seat in KPK.