Amir Latif
07 June 2026•Update: 07 June 2026
Polling concluded on Sunday in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous Gilgit-Baltistan region, where voters cast their ballots to elect a new government for a five-year term.
Polling stations opened at 8 am local time (0300GMT) and closed at 5 pm local time (1200GMT), state-run Pakistan Television reported.
However, voters who were inside polling stations at the close of voting will still be allowed to cast their ballots.
Unofficial results are expected later in the evening.
Some 396 candidates are competing for 24 direct seats in the regional Legislative Assembly, with 266 of them independent candidates and 130 representing different national and regional political and religiopolitical parties, according to figures by the regional election commission.
The house has 33 seats, including nine reserved seats for women and political appointees allocated based on a proportional representation basis.
A total of 963,034 voters were eligible to cast ballots in the elections.
A close contest is expected between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) of three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, center-left Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of the slain Premier Benazir Bhutto and independent candidates backed by the main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Thousands of police officers and paramilitary personnel were deployed across the region to maintain security during the elections.
