Peshawar: Polling process in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for an election on 11 seats of senate concluded as all 145 members of provincial assembly caste their votes.
Chief Minister KP Ali Ameen Gandapur castes his vote at the end.
The polling, which began at 11am on Monday was continue till 5 pm, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The ruling PTI and opposition having already agreed on a Senate 6-5 seats sharing formula.
The voting was held in Jirga Hall of KP Assembly which has been declared polling station by the ECP.
The swearing-in ceremony of KP reserved seats MPAs on Sunday has cleared the path for long-delayed Senate elections.
The contest was taken place on seven general seats, alongside two reserved seats each for women and technocrats.
Unlike general elections, where the “first past the post” system is used (meaning the candidate with the most votes wins), the Senate elections are held through a proportional representation system known as the single transferable vote. This method is designed to reflect the strength of each party in the respective assembly more accurately.
Under this system, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate secures more votes than required, surplus votes are transferred according to second preferences. If no candidate meets the threshold, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed. This continues until all seats are filled.
Voting for Senate polls is taking place under the supervision of the Election Commission of Pakistan, with each MPA allowed to cast three votes.
A white ballot paper will be used for general seats, green for technocrat seats, and pink for women’s seats.
To secure one of the seven general seats, a candidate will need at least 19 votes. For the reserved seats, candidates must secure 49 votes each.
In a rare display of mutual understanding, the provincial government led by PTI and the opposition have jointly fielded 11 candidates — six backed by the ruling side and five by opposition parties.
The government currently enjoys the support of 92 MPAs in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, while the opposition bloc has the backing of 53 members.
The opposition is aiming to clinch three of the seven general seats but will need at least four additional votes to secure the third one.
Meanwhile, out of five PTI dissident members who had originally filed nomination papers, four have withdrawn from the contest. As a result, Khurram Zeeshan remains the only dissident candidate still in the running for a general seat.
A total of 25 candidates are contesting the Senate elections from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
On the general seats, the government has fielded four candidates, while three have been nominated by the opposition. For the reserved seats — two for women and two for technocrats — both the government and the opposition have nominated two candidates each.
The PTI has named Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Mirza Mohammad Afridi, and Noorul Haq Qadri. Robina Naz and Azam Swati are also in the running under the PTI banner.
Opposition candidates include Niaz Ahmad from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Talha Mahmood from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and Atta-ul-Haq from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) on the general seats.
On the reserved seats, PPP has nominated Rubina Khalid, while JUI-F’s Dilawar Khan is also contesting.
