he vote marks Pakistan's first transition from one civilian government to another in its 66-year history.
But sporadic violence linked to the election has claimed a
number of lives. In the worst attack, 11 people were killed in a bombing
on a political office in Karachi.
In the run-up to the election, more than 100 people died.
Tens of thousands of troops are deployed at polling stations
after the Pakistani Taliban threatened to carry out suicide attacks.
Hours before polls opened, Pakistan sealed its borders with Iran and Afghanistan in a bid to keep foreign militants at bay.
Officials said the borders would remain closed for the next three days.
Queues started forming before polling stations opened at 08:00 (03:00 GMT) on Saturday.
Abdul Sattar, 74, said: "We want change, we are really fed up
with old faces coming back to power every time and doing nothing for
the nation."
By midday, 30% of registered voters had turned out, election
officials estimated, describing the figure as "very encouraging". An
election commission spokesman said they hoped for a figure of 60-80% by
the end of the day.
The turnout in 2008 was 44%.
At a polling station on the outskirts of the capital, BBC
World Affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge said around 1,000 of the
4,000 registered voters had cast their ballots by midday, including a
large proportion of women.
The BBC's Saba Eitizaz in Peshawar reported long queues of
women, with many first-time voters excited about being part of the
election.
EU observers in the eastern city of Lahore told the BBC that voting there was going smoothly and without any interruptions.
But voting was delayed at some polling stations in Karachi because ballot boxes and papers had not arrived.
Right-wing religious party Jamaat-e-Islami complained that
some of its voters had been harassed and announced it was boycotting the
vote in Karachi and areas of Hyderabad, reports said.
This man outside a polling station in Karachi said he had voted for a "better Pakistan"
Polling stations will close at 17:00.
The Taliban on Friday warned voters to boycott polling stations in order to avoid attacks on the offices of political parties.
The militants have been blamed for numerous attacks throughout the campaign on Pakistan's three most prominent liberal parties.
The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) along with the
Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and the Awami National
Party (ANP) have been singled out for attacks by the Taliban.
As a result, the parties were forced to curtail their election campaigning.
Around two hours after polling started, a bomb attack was
reported in Karachi, apparently targeting an ANP candidate outside the
party's political office.
11 May elections
- Polls opened at 08:00 local time (03:00 GMT) and close at 17:00
- 86,189,802 registered voters
- 5,000 are standing for 342-seat National Assembly, 272 are directly elected.
- 11,692 Provincial Assembly candidates
- 51 candidates are vying for the NA-48 constituency seat in Islamabad
- More than 600,000 security and army personnel will be deployed to guard against possible attacks
- More than 73,000 polling stations - 20,000 of which are deemed a security risk
- Polls will mark the first time that a civilian government has
completed a full five-year term and handed over to an elected successor
Eleven people were killed and
more than 40 others were wounded, police told BBC News. The local ANP
candidate, Amanullah Mahsud, who was in the office at the time of the
attack, was wounded but not seriously.
The attack happened in the Landhi area of Karachi, an
industrial district known for Taliban activity, the BBC's Shahzeb
Jillani reports. Another ANP candidate and his son were shot dead close
to the area last week.
Sporadic violence linked to the election was reported in several other areas of the country.
- Seven people were hurt outside a polling station in the
north-western city of Peshawar when a bomb went off attached to a
motorcycle
- A suicide bomber blew himself up after police prevented him from entering another polling station in Peshawar, police told AFP
- A clash between two groups at a polling station in Chaman on
the border with Afghanistan left least three people dead and several
others hurt
- An explosion was also reported in Quetta in the south-west
- At least four people were hurt in a blast in Mardan in the north-west
Militants have so far avoided targeting the campaigns of
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of Nawaz Sharif and the
Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party of Imran Khan.
Mr Sharif, who was deposed as prime minister in a military
coup 14 years ago, is seen as favourite to return for a third term of
office.
In a bid to clamp down on corruption, election officials say
electoral rolls have been refreshed and a text messaging service will
provide voting information to individuals.
In previous elections there have been accusations that
candidates and some state institutions rigged the vote by setting up
ghost polling stations and creating millions of fake voters on the
electoral rolls.
However, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on Friday
expressed "acute concern" about the manner in which the violence has
"impaired the fairness of the elections almost beyond repair".
It called on all institutions to "stretch themselves to their
absolute limit to ensure security of voters, candidates and polling
stations on Saturday so that the people can exercise their right to
choose their representatives".
The Taliban threat sparked a major security operation leading up to the vote.
More than 600,000 security and army personnel have been deployed to guard against possible attacks on polling day.
On Thursday, the son of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was abducted during a rally.
source:bbcnews
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