As men queue outside the Government Girls Middle School Swati Gate, a story begins on Election Day. It takes us to Jowgera, where an elderly woman casts her vote. As the day peaked around the afternoon a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded near a women’s polling station in Larama, Charsadda Road. Amid security concerns, the Pakistan Army was deployed throughout the province. Multitudes in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa stamped their ballots under the presiding officers: Kalashi girls, those with physical disabilities, young, old, and first-time voters hoping their party will rule over the next five years. PHOTOS: MUHAMMAD IQBAL/GHAFFAR BAIG AND IQBAL MAMOND
While Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas have borne the brunt of terrorist attacks to dissuade people from voting, the turnout in both the province and the tribal belt left onlookers stunned.
Although violence erupted in the early hours of the morning on the outskirts of Peshawar, people continued to line up at polling stations to ink their voice for change.
Many women in the area cast their votes for the first time, defying both tradition and security threats from the Taliban. Here we tell their story in pictures:
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