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 13:25 · Adam Withnall]

The senator in charge of PML-N's election campaign team, Mushaid Hussain, has given a confident news conference in which he suggest that, despite the apparent issues with getting people through polling stations, the party is still happy at this point with the response of its voters.

"We are very confident, but we will issue our detailed report after the polls close," he said.

He used the news conference to issue three demands: First, that the election commission extend voting hours from 6pm to 7pm; secondly, that all voters who get in line before the deadline must be allowed to cast their ballot; and thirdly, that polling staff around the country speed up the voting process.

[25 July 2018 14:04 · Adam Withnall]

Polls have now closed in Pakistan's general election. The election commission rejected a last-minute request to extend voting by an hour amid accusations of slow processing and the turning away of some members of the public.

[25 July 2018 14:30 · Adam Withnall]

And so the counting begins - but not without the public recriminations that have so characterised this election.

Both the Pakistan Muslim league - Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have strongly condemned the decision not to extend voting by an hour, despite what they call the inability of tens of thousands of people to cast their ballot.

Pakistan's laws dictate that people already in the polling station at the time the election ends must be allowed to submit their vote, but any still waiting outside have most likely been turned away.

Imran Khan's PTI party did not join the demands to extend voting hours.

[25 July 2018 14:46 · Adam Withnall]

Neither of the two main parties is likely to win a clear majority in the too-close-to-call election, with results unlikely to be known until late tonight, around 2am local time (10pm BST).

We'll pause our coverage there, but will bring you a full wrap-up of the day's events and the breaking news of the result when we have it. For those, head over to www.independent.co.uk.