Second phase of AJK election begins as voting opens in 21 constituencies

The second phase of the 2026 Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly general election began on Sunday morning, with polling underway in 21 constituencies, including nine general seats in Muzaffarabad Division and 12 refugee constituencies for Kashmiris residing in different cities across Pakistan.

Polling began at 8:00am and will continue uninterrupted until 5:00pm. More than 1.2 million registered voters are eligible to cast their ballots during the second phase.

In Muzaffarabad Division, 208 candidates are contesting nine seats, with 809,621 registered voters. A further 143 candidates are contesting 12 refugee constituencies.

A total of 1,483 polling stations have been established across the districts of Muzaffarabad Division, with heavy security deployed at locations designated as highly sensitive.

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Constituencies LA-28, LA-29 and LA-31 have been declared highly sensitive. Closely contested races are expected involving prominent political figures, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shah Ghulam Qadir, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party leader Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, former Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, and Legislative Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Latif Akbar.

In the Rawalpindi Division, 35 candidates are contesting three refugee seats, where 27,907 voters are registered.

For security, 4,000 police personnel have been deployed, while 31 of the 175 polling stations have been declared sensitive.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), 41 polling stations have been established across 21 districts for LA-45 Kashmir Valley-VI, where 7,655 registered voters are eligible to cast their votes.

Results for all constituencies will be announced two hours after polling concludes.

Polling for AJK refugee constituencies in Rawalpindi sees slow start

Polling for the three AJK refugee constituencies in Rawalpindi began on Sunday, with polling staff reaching polling stations before the start of voting.

At the central polling station at Islamia High School No. 1 on Murree Road, polling staff and security personnel were present when polling opened, but no voters arrived during the first five minutes. No polling camps had been established and polling agents representing political parties or candidates had not reached the station.

A similar situation was reported at polling stations on Murree Road, Liaquat Road, Syedpur Road and Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, where polling camps had initially not been set up. Heavy police deployment was present, while security and cleanliness arrangements were reported to be satisfactory.

A polling officer at Islamia High School No. 1 said polling would continue until 5:00 pm regardless of voter turnout.

At the Wadi-4 polling station at Makha Singh Estate Government Boys School, 11 votes had been cast, while nine votes had been cast at the Wadi-5 polling station at Government Boys Primary School. Polling camps were later established at girls' and boys' schools in Millat Colony.

By 8:50 am, no voters had arrived at the polling station at Islamia High School No. 1, and polling camps had still not been established.

Polling officials said turnout remained minimal during the early morning hours due to the Sunday holiday but expected voting activity to increase after 12:00 noon.

Later in the morning, polling camps began appearing outside polling stations on Murree Road, Liaquat Road, Syedpur Road and Khayaban-e-Sir Syed.

Four hours after polling began, voter turnout remained low at several polling stations.

By 12:00 noon, only 14 votes had been cast at the joint polling station established at Daniyal High School, Saddar, for Jammu-6, where the total number of registered voters is 125.

At another polling station for Jammu-6, established at FG Technical School, Tariqabad, the total number of registered voters is 23. By noon, only two voters — one male and one female — had cast their votes.

At the FG Quaid-e-Azam School, Chaklala, also in Jammu-6, the polling station has 117 registered voters, but no vote had been cast by 12:00 noon.

Elections held amid rigging allegations in first phase

Despite the extensive security arrangements, election day was overshadowed by allegations of rigging and sporadic violence, as coalition partners at the centre — the PML-N and the PPP — traded accusations of electoral interference throughout the day.

The PML-N first alleged pre-poll rigging in Kotli's LA-10 constituency after party leaders claimed polling staff and election material had been found at a private residence instead of the designated polling station. The Election Commission later confirmed it had arrested and suspended two presiding officers over the incident, replacing them with new officials and initiating legal proceedings under election laws.

The PPP, meanwhile, repeatedly accused the federal government and the PML-N of using state machinery to influence the polls, alleging armed supporters attempted to disrupt voting at several polling stations and demanding immediate intervention by the Election Commission. The party also complained that polling at one station in Kotli remained suspended for nearly two hours, depriving voters of their right to cast ballots.

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Tensions escalated further in LA-9 Kotli-II (Nikyal), where PPP worker Mukhtar Younus was killed during polling. The PPP alleged he was shot during incidents involving armed supporters of a PML-N candidate, while PML-N leaders disputed the party's account of the incident. Local authorities confirmed one person had died and two others, including the victim's father, were injured.

As the accusations intensified, senior leaders from both parties held competing press conferences. The PPP accused the federal government of interfering in the elections through development announcements and misuse of official resources, while the PML-N alleged the PPP was itself attempting to manipulate the vote, claiming ballot papers had been recovered from the residence of a rival candidate.

Throughout the day, the Election Commission maintained that strict action would be taken against any violations of the electoral code of conduct, saying irregularities and negligence would not be tolerated. Despite the controversies, polling concluded after the one-hour extension before vote counting began.