Pakistan's ruling party leads in Kashmir vote despite boycott call by banned group

Candidates backed by twice-elected former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party have won 24 of the 34 seats decided in the first two phases of voting, the election commission, said Wednesday.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3536x2357+0+0/resize/3536x2357!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb2%2F3b%2Fe64f49f1474299197a0afd8ddcbc%2Fap26213600617480.jpg' alt='Motorcyclists navigate through a road barricaded with concrete blocks set up by supporters of the outlawed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) during a protest demanding greater political rights and the abolition of 12 legislative refugee seats, in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026.'/><p>Candidates backed by twice-elected former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N party have won 24 of the 34 seats decided in the first two phases of voting, the election commission, said Wednesday.</p><p>(Image credit: M.D. Mughal)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=g-s1-137449' />