WEB DESK: The vote counting process is underway after polling concluded in the first phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections.
The Chief Election Commissioner extended polling time by one hour following requests from voters and political parties over turnout concerns. The polling officially ended at 6pm, after which officials began compiling and transmitting results from polling stations.
According to election officials, election results will be received and processed in phases, while the final results will be formally announced by the Election Commission according to the prescribed procedure.
The first phase of the elections was held across 13 constituencies of Mirpur Division, where a total of 1,400,437 voters were registered, including 724,811 male and 675,626 female voters.
For the first phase, 2,316 polling stations were established, including 1,241 declared highly sensitive and 724 marked sensitive due to security concerns.
Unofficial results so far indicate a close contest between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), with both parties securing leads in different constituencies.
In LA-1 Mirpur-1, unofficial results from 62 of 139 polling stations show PML-N candidate Azhar Sadiq leading with 8,271 votes, while PPP candidate Muhammad Afzal Shahid is in second place with 4,048 votes.
In LA-2 Mirpur-2, PPP candidate Qasim Majeed is ahead with 9,300 votes from 109 of 149 polling stations, followed by PML-N’s Azeem Bakhsh Chaudhry with 5,400 votes.
In LA-3 Mirpur-3, PPP candidate Chaudhry Yasir Sultan is leading with 10,563 votes from 123 polling stations, while PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed has secured 7,008 votes.
In LA-4 Mirpur-4, early results from three polling stations show PML-N candidate Chaudhry Rukhsar Ahmed leading with 454 votes, while PPP candidate Chaudhry Sohaib Arshad has received 290 votes.
In LA-5 Bhimber-1, PML-N’s Waqar Ahmed Noor is leading with 19,592 votes from 104 of 176 polling stations, followed by PPP candidate Chaudhry Pervez Ashraf with 16,335 votes.
In LA-6 Bhimber-2, PML-N candidate Chaudhry Muhammad Razzaq is ahead with 3,814 votes from 24 polling stations, while IPP candidate Ali Shan Chaudhry is second with 3,351 votes.
In LA-7 Bhimber-3, unofficial results from all 50 polling stations show PML-N’s Chaudhry Tariq Farooq leading with 8,789 votes, followed by independent candidate Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq with 5,359 votes.
In LA-8 Kotli-1, PPP candidate Malik Zafar is leading with 18,543 votes from 141 of 155 polling stations, while PML-N’s Malik Muhammad Nawaz is second with 11,093 votes.
In LA-9 Kotli-2, unofficial results from one polling station show PML-N candidate Umair Naeem leading with 534 votes, while PPP candidate Javed Iqbal Budhanvi has received 25 votes.
In LA-10 Kotli-3, PPP candidate Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin is leading with 6,999 votes from 36 polling stations, followed by PML-N’s Fateh Mahmood-ul-Hassan with 3,560 votes.
In LA-11 Kotli-4, early results from two polling stations show PPP candidate Chaudhry Muhammad Akhlaq ahead with 254 votes, while PML-N’s Muhammad Asif has secured 148 votes.
In LA-12 Kotli-5, PPP candidate Chaudhry Muhammad Yasin is leading with 14,411 votes from 96 of 207 polling stations, while PML-N’s Muhammad Riasat Khan is second with 13,151 votes.
In LA-13 Kotli-6, PML-N candidate Raja Ayaz Ahmed Khan is ahead with 13,063 votes from 110 of 193 polling stations, while PPP candidate Muhammad Waleed Inqalabi has received 8,995 votes.
The Election Commission is continuing the result compilation process, with official results expected after completion of counting and verification procedures.