LAHORE: Polling for NA-120 by-election began at 8am and is continuing across 220 polling stations established in the constituency. 100 Bio metric verification machines have been installed at 39 polling stations for the first time to ensure voter verification.
Major contenders include Begum Kulsoom Nawaz of PML-N, Dr Yasmin Rashid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Faisal Mir of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and Advocate Ziauddin Ansari of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), among others.
Interestingly, none of the candidates contesting for the NA 120 constituency are registered voters of the constituency. PML’s Begum Kulsoom Nawaz is a registered voter of NA 119 while Dr. Yasmin Rashid of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf has had her vote transferred to NA 128.
There are 324,786 registered voters in the NA-120 constituency.
Strict security arrangements are in place at the polling stations with heavy deployment of police and ranger personnel across NA-120, along with the Pakistan army.
The army ensured security arrangements while the ballot papers were being printed and also ensured that the ballot boxes and other election material reach the polling stations securely.
PTI’s Yasmeen Rashid while talking to the media, urged the police authorities to facilitate the voters rather than disrupting the voting process today.
Earlier, police asked PML-N and PTI workers to refrain from chanting slogans against one another at Cooper Road polling station. No untoward incident was reported.
The polling is likely to end at 5pm.
The NA-120 seat had fallen vacant after Supreme Court (SC) disqualified Nawaz Sharif over Panama Papers case on July 28.