LAHORE, Pakistan: The polling for by-elections for the constituencies NA-63 Jhelum-II and PP-232 Vehari-I is in progress on Wednesday and it will continue till 5:00 in the evening without any break.
For NA-63 Jhelum-II, as many as 427,757 registered voters are casting their vote at 976 polling booths (male 514, female 462) of 314 polling stations, according to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Punjab office.
Four candidates including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Raja Matloob Mehdi, Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians’ (PPPP) Jahangir Mahmood Mirza, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI)’s Chaudhary Fawad Hussain and Dewan Hashmat Hayat of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) are contesting the by-elections. While another five candidates withdrew their nomination papers earlier.
As many as 314 presiding officers, 976 assistant presiding officers and 976 polling officers are supervising the election process.
It may be mentioned that the seat fell vacant after the death of PML-N leader Malik Iqbal Mehdi who secured NA-63 seat by getting 11,6013 votes in the general elections 2013.
Likewise, in Punjab Assembly Constituency PP-232 Vehari-I, some 191,092 registered voters are casting their votes at 365 polling booths of 157 polling stations.
PML-N’s candidate Chaudhary Muhammad Yousaf Kaselia (Tiger), PTI’s Aysha Nazir Jutt (Symbol Bat), and Pakistan Kissan Ittehad candidate Chaudhary Abdul Saboor Arain Advocate (Well) are among 11 candidates who are contesting the bye-election.
Other candidates include Chaudhary Arsalan Shaukat Saselia (Batsman), Chaudhary Tahir Naqqash Jutt (Sheep), Chaudhry Abid Ali Kaselia (Deep Freezer), Chaudhary Ghulam Mustafa Jutt (Goat), Muhammad Rafiq Nizami Advocate (Bucket), Mirza Mehboob Rabani (Deer), Malik Rashid Faraaz Awan (Bottle) and Nazeer Ahmad Basit (Dhol).
As many as 157 presiding officers, 365 assistant presiding officers and 365 polling officers are supervising the electoral process.