Imran Khan's PTI won second most votes in Pakistan elections

Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has won the second largest number of votes in Pakistan's general election despite finishing third in terms of seats, data released on Monday has revealed.

The PTI polled 7.7 million votes in the May 11 election to win 28 national assembly seats, but the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) which led the outgoing government took 32 seats with only 6.9 million ballots, reports The Dawn.

Turnout at the election was 55 per cent, up from 44 per cent in the 2008 poll, the election commission said.

Both PTI and PPP were well behind the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) led by two-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, which took 126 seats and 14.9 million votes, according to the commission.

PML-N officials say they have persuaded 18 independent lawmakers to join the party, taking them comfortably beyond the 136 seats they need to be sure of a majority in the lower house.

In Pakistan's National Assembly, 272 seats are elected directly. A further 70 seats reserved for women and minorities are distributed to parties according to the proportion of general seats they win.

Results are still awaited from seven seats where polling was delayed due to violence or where recounts were ordered after allegations of irregularities.