ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan instructed the Provincial Election Commissioners and Returning Officers to announce election results within 30 minutes or face serious consequences. The ECP, in a statement, also clarified that various media channels reporting election results based on the Commission sources were inaccurate, as it had not officially released any results. As curtains close on polling across the National Assembly’s 266 constituencies, the vote count has started, signaling high stakes for the nation’s largest province. Over 128 million registered voters, including 69.2 million men and 59.3 million women, across the country were set to cast their ballots for a record 17,816 candidates of both National and provincial assembly seats. There are 5,121 candidates running for 266 general seats of the National Assembly, and 12,695 for 593 seats of the four provincial assemblies. The Election Commission of Pakistan had announced that unofficial and unverified results could be announced only after 6pm, and that action would be taken against TV channels who violate the code of conduct. The Election Commission of Pakistan and the Caretaker Government have successfully conducted general election-24 across Sindh with strict security arrangements. The polling for 61 National Assembly and 130 Sindh Assembly seats was held amid strict security measures and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the province.