Polling began across Gilgit-Baltistan on Sunday for elections to the region’s legislative assembly, with voters casting ballots under tight security arrangements.

Voting started at 8am and will continue until 5pm for 24 general seats in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly, whose elections were postponed by four months due to harsh winter conditions.

The assembly comprises 33 seats, including 24 directly elected seats, six reserved for women and three for technocrats and professionals.

Political parties will nominate candidates for the reserved seats under a proportional representation system.

A total of 396 candidates are in the running, including 266 independents.

Only eight women are contesting the elections, five of them as independent candidates.

A total of 1,368 polling stations have been established across the region.

Of these, 551 polling stations have been declared highly sensitive.

According to official figures, 958,480 voters are eligible to cast their ballots, including 503,772 men and 454,708 women.

Among political parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has fielded 23 candidates, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 22 candidates.

The Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) has nominated 15 candidates, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has fielded 11.

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) is contesting nine seats.

Security has been strengthened across the region to ensure the smooth conduct of polling.

More than 3,500 police personnel have been deployed in three constituencies of Gilgit alone, while additional security arrangements and monitoring have been instituted at sensitive and highly sensitive polling stations.