ISLAMABAD, July 25 -- The voting process in Pakistan's parliamentary elections concluded Wednesday evening and counting of ballots has started, Secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Baber Yaqoob said.

The polling started at 8:00 a.m. local time Wednesday and continued uninterrupted up to 6:00 p.m. local time. Almost all major parties requested the ECP to extend the polling time for one hour, but was rejected by the election body.

However, the people inside the premises of the polling stations before the door closing time are allowed to cast their votes, the ECP official said.

Out of the 272 seats of the 342-member National Assembly, the lower house of the country's parliament, elections took place on 270 seats as polls were postponed on two seats due to multiple reasons, including the death of a candidate.

A huge turnout of voters was observed across the country, but heavy rains in some areas also affected the turnout, local media reported.

Counting started at the polling stations where polling process has been completed. However, the ECP has forbidden all organizations including media houses from announcing the result of any polling station before 7:00 p.m. local time.

According to the ECP, a total of 3,428 candidates contested for the 270 general seats of the lower house, and 8,245 for 570 general seats of the four provincial assemblies, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh. The four provincial assemblies' elections were also held on Wednesday.

【国际英语资讯:Voting for Pakistans general elections concludes, counting starts】相关文章：

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