9-hour Polling Ends; Vote-count Starts

(@ChaudhryMAli88)

9-hour polling ends; vote-count starts

MUZAFFRABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21th july, 2016) : The nine-hour polling process, which remained overall smooth and peaceful, ended on Thursday at 5 p.m. as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. However, the voters present in the premises of some polling stations at the closing time have been allowed to cast their votes. While, the counting of votes has begun at the polling stations, where the polling process have been completed, after a short break. The election commission had made elaborate administrative and security measures to conduct the polls in a smooth and peaceful manner.

As many 23,394 polling staff including 4,462 presiding officers, 6,310 polling officers and 12,622 polling assistants performed duties at 5,429 polling stations in all 41 Constituencies of the AJK Legislative Assembly. Around 328 candidates are contesting from 29 constituencies of AJK's ten districts, while 99 are in the run from 12 constituencies of Kashmiri refugees, spread over four provinces of Pakistan. Chief Election Commissioner of AJK Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal is scheduled to announce initial results of the general elections-2016 and the commission's central control room here.