Pakistan election - LIVE: Major party accuses authorities of 'deliberately' stopping people from voting

As it happened: Here's how the events of the day unfolded

Aftermath footage following deadly blast outside polling station in Quetta, Pakistan

Pakistan has voted in a historic general election, after a bitter and violent campaign left the country highly polarised.

Voters were deciding between the former cricket legend and playboy Imran Khan, and the party of ex-leader Nawaz Sharif, who has been jailed on corruption charges that he says are politically motivated.

Fears of violence in the build-up to polling day have proved founded, as Isis claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that left 32 dead in Quetta. But in many parts of the country, people have travelled to vote regardless of the security issues.

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Mr Khan's PTI party has positioned itself as an anti-corruption vehicle of change - but Mr Sharif's PML-N has accused him of being the military's candidate. With the race expected to be tight, independents and other smaller parties - like the PPP led by the son of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto - could yet play a key role in coalition.

Wednesday's vote was to be the first time Pakistan has ever achieved a second democratic transition of power in a row. Throughout its history, the country has oscillated between military and civilian rule.

Yet while that should be being hailed as an unprecedented landmark of stability for the nation, there have long been warning signs in a campaign that has been one of the most dangerous and distasteful in modern history.

From social media to the streets, the vicious nature of the campaign polarised Pakistani society into supporters of Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) party, and the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) of Mr Sharif.

The chief election commissioner (CEC), retired Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, on Tuesday assured voters that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was “trying its best to hold free, fair and unbiased elections”.

In a video message released by the election body, Mr Raza urged voters to fulfil their “duty towards the nation” by casting their votes calmly and responsibly on polling day.

Polling began at 8am local time, and concluded at 6pm. While one side or the other might claim victory as early as Wednesday night, official results could take up the three days to tally.

Key Points

• 32 dead in suicide bombing at busy polling station in Quetta
• An activist is killed in shootout with secular party in Sawabi
• Vote is being 'deliberately slowed', claims major party
• Ex-cricket star Imran Khan is narrow favourite with his party PTI
• But incumbent PML party of jailed Nawaz Sharif remains hopeful
• Need to catch up? Read our full election preview here
• Some stations still have not a single female voter, five hours in

[25 July 2018 07:11 · Adam Withnall]

One dead in shooting between political rivals

Police have confirmed to The Independent that a party activist has been killed in what is thought to be the first incident of deadly violence on election day.

We are receiving information from local sources of a shootout in the northwestern city of Sawabi between staff of the PTI and secular Awami National Workers (ANP) parties.

PTI says that one of its activists was killed, and another four people were injured in the incident. 

Local police confirmed that tally, but say the situation is now under control and voting is back underway in Col Sher Khan village.

Other minor incidents have also been reported. In Larkana, Sindh province, an attack on PPP activists with firecrackers injured a few people, local party management sources said. 

[25 July 2018 07:30 · Adam Withnall]

18 dead in suicide bombing

A blast killed has at least 18 people in the western city of Quetta in an attack targeting a police van, according to local media reports.

Geo TV put the death toll at 18, while rival Samaa TV put it at 20, adding a "suicide attacker" was responsible.

[25 July 2018 07:41 · Adam Withnall]

A hospital official says the toll is now 25 killed, 40 wounded in the explosion outside a crowded polling station in Quetta.

[25 July 2018 07:51 · Adam Withnall]

The blast happened near a polling station, said a Reuters witness in Quetta, capital of Pakistan's province of Baluchistan, but it was unclear if voting had been disrupted.

Television images showed a charred police vehicle, cordoned off by security officials.

[25 July 2018 07:59 · Adam Withnall]

A spokesman for Quetta hospital, Waseem Baig, told The Independent that 15 dead bodies were brought in to the hospital and 33 injured are under treatment there, a few of whom are in a serious condition.

Witness Majeed Akbar said the apparent target of the blast was a police van. He said: "The explosion occurred near a school where polling was taking place. There was a cloud of smoke after the blast, it filled the sky and then after that I saw a pool of blood, dead bodies and others injured."

Authorities have yet to comment on the nature of the blast.

[25 July 2018 08:23 · Adam Withnall]

While we wait for more updates on the Quetta bombing, voting has been suspended at the NA-123 polling station in Lahore, after a clash between supporters and members of the PTI and PML-N parties, a local source told The Independent. 

Lahore, the capital city of the most populous province of Punjab, is the central battlefield between the two main rivals for victory in this election.  

[25 July 2018 08:31 · Adam Withnall]

Quetta, where the bombing took place a short time ago, is the capital of Baluchistan province.

Earler this month, a suicide bomber killed 149 people at an election rally in the town of Mastung, also in Baluchistan province. The attack was claimed by Isis militants.

About 371,000 soldiers have been stationed at polling stations across the country to prevent attacks, nearly five times the number deployed at the last election in 2013.

[25 July 2018 08:36 · Adam Withnall]

Isis has claimed responsibility for the bombing in Quetta, in a message shared by the group's Amaq news agency.

[25 July 2018 08:45 · Adam Withnall]

[25 July 2018 08:56 · Adam Withnall]

We've reported earlier about the difficulties Pakistan has had with women's representation in this election - only 171 out of 12,500 candidates are women, and laws had to be brought in in 2013 stating that any area which failed to get at least 10% female voters would have its results nullified.

Now, Mohammad Zubair Khan reports, women are being stop by elders, jirga (local traditional councils) and political parties from voting in some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

No women have voted in the districts of Shangla or Kohistan up until this time - polls have been open now for almost five hours. A local journalist from Shangla, Umar Bacha, told The Independent the reason behind the low female turnout was the absence of a gender-segregated polling station.

Local administration officials said that female staff are present in the polling stations, and if anyone arrived they would be able to help her to cast a vote.

A journalist from Peshawar, the provincial capital, said all political parties, especially the religious ones, called in their political campaigns for women to be allowed to go vote. However, Muhammad Qasim said, women in some areas have been forbidden to vote by local jirgas.

There are segregated polling stations in various constituencies, he said.

The electoral commission has yet to comment today on the lack of turnout among women in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.