Security tight as women cast votes on Karachi, polls open in Lahore

(11 May 2013) Karachi 1. Female voter casting her vote at a Karachi polling station 2. Close of female voter dropping her vote in the ballot box 3. Low angle shot of presiding officer completing formalities as woman waits for the ballot paper. 4. Wide of male voter fixing thumb impression at a polling station 5. Close of presiding officer tearing off ballot paper 6. Mid of voter in booth 7. Wide of male voter folding ballot paper 8. Close of voter dropping ballot paper in the ballot box 9. SOUNDBITE (Urdu) Mohsin Nadeem, voter: "I am here to cast my vote. I have cast my vote. God willing things will turn better in the country. My message to the people is that they come out and cast their votes." 10. Low angle shot of voters queue outside a polling station, paramilitary rangers personal standing guard 11. Mid of voters lined up outside polling station holding their National Identity Card (NIC) in their hands 12. Mid of voters line outside a polling station with paramilitary ranger in foreground 13. Mid of voters with identity cards 14. Various of voters and paramilitary rangers 15. Various of secutiry by polling station Lahore 16. Police searching voters 17. Close shot of gun 18. Wide shot of male voters in polling station 19. Various shots of election commission workers registering voters 20. Various shots of voter casting his vote 21. SOUNDBITE: (Urdu) Voter, Mohammad Aslam: "We want them (the new government) to think about this country, think honestly not about making their own money, for the sake of God I ask them holding my hand to think about this country." 22. Wide pan shot of female voters in in polling station 23. Various shots of voter casting her vote 24. SOUNDBITE: (Urdu) Voter, Tahira Shah: "I am very happy, Thank God there is security in our Punjab comparing to the provinces. May God bring this type of security in all other provinces." 25. Close shot of policeman's gun and voters arriving at the polling station 26. Low shot of policeman STORYLINE: Polls opened on Saturday morning across Pakistan in what is a closely watched race to determine the fate of this nuclear-armed country crucial to stability in the region. The vote marks the first time in Pakistan's 65-year history that a civilian government has completed its full term and handed over power in democratic elections. Previous governments have been toppled by military coups or sacked by presidents allied with the powerful army. As Pakistanis streamed to the polls across the country, there was a sense of excitement among an electorate aware of the historical significance of their vote and the risk they were taking. The rise of former cricket star Imran Khan, who has almost mythical status in Pakistan, has challenged the dominance of the country's two main political parties, making the outcome of the election very hard to call. The two main parties that have dominated politics, the Pakistan People's Party, which led the most recent government, and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, have ruled the country a total of five times in the past 25 years. The election of both the national and provincial assemblies comes at a time of widespread despair in Pakistan, as the country suffers from weak economic growth, rampant electricity and gas shortages, and a deadly Taliban insurgency. Extremist Taliban have threatened to disrupt elections calling democracy and elections as un-Islamic in majority Muslim Pakistan. On Saturday a Pakistani police officer said that two people were killed when a bomb exploded outside a political office in the port city of Karachi. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...