Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Chief Election Commissioner Fakhruddin G Ebrahim were among those who exercised their right to franchise shortly after polling began at 8 am
Long queues were seen outside thousands of polling stations across the country despite fears of attacks by the Taliban.
Tens of thousands of troops are deployed at polling stations after the Pakistani Taliban threatened to carry out suicide attacks.
The Taliban on Friday warned voters to boycott polling stations in order to avoid attacks on the offices of political 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.
Hours before polls opened, Pakistan sealed its borders with Iran and Afghanistan in a bid to keep foreign militants at bay.
The vote marks Pakistan's first transition from one civilian government to another in its 66-year history.
May 11 2013 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
Opinion polls indicate there could be a record turnout, higher than the 44% in the last elections in 2008
PM Nawaz Sharif (PML-N) looks set to win the most seats .However,Imran Khan's(Tehrik-i-Insaf) challenge could deprive Sharif of a majority and dash his hopes for a return to power 14 years after he was ousted in a military coup, jailed and later exiled.
The election commission projected that more than 60 % of the nation’s 86 million voters cast ballots for national and provincial assemblies — a number that, if confirmed, would represent the highest turnout since 1970
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