Millions of Pakistanis are expected to brave Taliban threats to vote in elections that mark a historic democratic transition.
The nuclear-armed state has been ruled for half its life by the army.
But the Taliban have branded democracy un-Islamic and have waged a virulent campaign of attacks against the main secular parties, killing more than 120 people in what has been called the country's deadliest election.
Polls open on Saturday at 8am and close at 5pm, allowing an electorate of more than 86 million to vote for the 342-member national assembly and four provincial assemblies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan.
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.
