Pakistan votes in historic polls

Election officials discuss after a polling station was opened in a village near Lahore May 11, 2013. A string of militant attacks cast a long shadow over Pakistan's general election on Saturday, but millions still turned out to vote in a landmark test of the troubled country's democracy. (REUTERS)

People gather near a polling station in a village near Lahore May 11, 2013. A string of militant attacks cast a long shadow over Pakistan's general election on Saturday, but millions still turned out to vote in a landmark test of the troubled country's democracy.  (REUTERS)
 

A man (C) casts his ballot inside a school that serves as a polling station in a village near Lahore May 11, 2013. A string of militant attacks cast a long shadow over Pakistan's general election on Saturday, but millions still turned out to vote in a landmark test of the troubled country's democracy. (REUTERS)

Pakistani tribal voters stand in a queue as they wait for their turn to cast their votes outside a polling station in restive Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan on May 11, 2013. Pakistanis queued up to vote in landmark elections, defying Taliban attacks to cast their ballots in polls marking a historic democratic transition for the nuclear-armed state. Queues gathered outside polling stations in Pakistan's main cities where some people said they were nervous about security, but others spoke enthusiastically about exercising their democratic right and voting for change. (AFP)

A man is followed by boys as he arrives to a polling station in a village near Lahore May 11, 2013. A string of militant attacks cast a long shadow over Pakistan's general election on Saturday, but millions still turned out to vote in a landmark test of the troubled country's democracy. )REUTERS)

Women wait to vote at a polling station in the old part of Lahore May 11, 2013. A string of militant attacks cast a long shadow over Pakistan's general election on Saturday, but millions still turned out to vote in a landmark test of the troubled country's democracy. (REUTERS)

A Pakistani election officer gets thumb impression of a voter on a ballot in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on Saturday, May 11, 2013. Defying the danger of militant attacks, Pakistanis streamed to the polls Saturday for a historic vote pitting a former cricket star against a two-time prime minister and an unpopular incumbent. But attacks that killed over a dozen people and wounded dozens more underlined the risks many people took just casting their ballots. (AP)

Pakistani women line up to enter a polling station and cast their ballots, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, May 11, 2013. Pakistanis streamed to the polls Saturday to vote in a historic election pitting a cricket star-turned-politician against an unpopular incumbent and a two-time prime minister, but twin bombings killing nine people and wounding dozens underlined the dangers voters face. (AP)

Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif (L), casts his vote at a polling station in Lahore on May 11, 2013.  Sharif, the frontrunner in Pakistan's landmark election, cast his ballot on May 11 and said he was confident of victory. The vote marks the first time that an elected civilian administration has completed a full term and handed power to another through the ballot box in a country where there have been three military coups and four military rulers.(AFP)

Pakistan army soldiers patrol in Rawalpindi during elections in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on Saturday, May 11, 2013. Defying the danger of militant attacks, Pakistanis streamed to the polls Saturday for a historic vote pitting a former cricket star against a two-time prime minister and an unpopular incumbent. But attacks that killed more than a dozen people and wounded dozens more underlined the risks many people took just casting their ballots. (AP)
 

Pakistani women voters wait outside a polling station to cast their votes in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on Saturday, May 11, 2013. Defying the danger of militant attacks, Pakistanis streamed to the polls Saturday for a historic vote pitting a former cricket star against a two-time prime minister and an unpopular incumbent. But attacks that killed several people and wounded dozens more underlined the risks many people took just casting their ballots. (AP)

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