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Voters in Pakistan will go to the polls Monday in one of the most crucial elections in the nation's history. Nearly 400,000 police and 80,000 troops are providing security. The vote is accompanied by rising violence and concerns by opposition¹ parties that the election will be rigged.

巴基斯坦选民将在星期一参加巴基斯坦历史上一次最重要的选举。在选举即将开始时，巴基斯坦的暴力事件不断增多，而反对派各政党担心选举会被人操纵。

Officials in Pakistan say 60,000 polling stations across the country are ready to open and more than 80 million people are eligible² to participate.

巴基斯坦官员说，全国六万个投票站已经作好了开始工作的准备，有八千多万人有投票资格。

Voters will be electing members to the four provincial³ assemblies and the lower house of parliament.

选民们将选举四个省级议会的成员和国民议会下院的议员。

The elections are considered crucial to restoring democracy to Pakistan following eight years of military rule under President Pervez Musharraf.

外界认为，在穆沙拉夫总统的军人政权统治巴基斯坦8年之后，这次选举对恢复巴基斯坦的民主制度至关重要。

Opposition parties are accusing supporters of Mr. Musharraf of trying to rig the elections.

反对派各政党指控穆沙拉夫的支持者企图操纵选举。

On the eve of the election, Information Minister Nisar Memon rejected those charges, saying all voters are strongly encouraged to come to the polls and the vote counting will be transparent⁴.

在选举前夕，巴基斯坦新闻部长梅蒙否认了这些指控，他说，政府积极鼓励所有选民去投票站投票，计票工作也将是透明的。

"We do hope that there will be complete, free, fair and peaceful election. But certainly the observers are there, the cameras are there, the eyes are there, the pens are there, the minds are there," said Memon. "I am sure they will make sure that no one who wants to [negatively] affect these elections will be able to succeed in this."

梅蒙说：“我们真诚地希望选举将是完整、自由、公正及和平的。当然，观察人员、摄像机和照相机、人们的眼睛、他们手中的笔和他们的注意力都会集中在这场选举上。我相信所有这一切将确保那些企图给选举活动带来不利影响的人无法得逞。”

More than 80,000 soldiers and nearly 400,000 police and paramilitary forces are on alert to provide security for the polls.

八万多名士兵和近40万名警察及准军事人员已经处于戒备状态，准备为选举提供安全保障。

The campaign has been overshadowed by security fears, following the assassination⁵ of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in a gun and suicide-bomb attack last December.

去年12月，巴基斯坦反对派领导人布托受到枪击和自杀式炸弹的袭击而死亡，在这之后，人们对安全局势的担心给选举蒙上了阴影。

Late Saturday, a suicide bombing following an opposition rally near the border with Afghanistan killed dozens of people and wounded many more.

星期六晚间，在巴基斯坦和阿富汗边界附近发生了一起自杀式爆炸，造成几十人死亡，更多人受伤。爆炸发生前，反对派刚刚在那里举行了一次集会。

The government says it has issued visas for more than one-thousand election observers and foreign journalists to cover the vote.

巴基斯坦政府说，政府为一千多名选举观察员和报导选举的外国记者签发了签证。

Several American lawmakers plan to observe the elections, including Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who is the co-chair of the Pakistan caucus⁶ in the House of Representatives.

一些美国议员计划观察选举，他们中包括女议员西拉杰克逊.李,她是国会众议院巴基斯坦议员团的共同主席。

"All of the world's eyes are on Pakistan. As I traveled from the United States it was clear, Pakistan's election tomorrow is not an isolated⁷ election. It really is being viewed as an ultimate symbol of, if you will, the ability to moderate, the ability to reconcile, being the charge of the day," she said.

西拉杰克逊.李说：“全世界都在关注巴基斯坦。我从美国到巴基斯坦的旅途中清楚地看到，巴基斯坦明天的选举不是一场孤立的选举。你可以说人们认为这场选举是调解、和解和控制全局能力的最终象征。”

Mr. Musharraf's presidency⁸ is not being contested in this election, but if opposition parties win a two-thirds majority in parliament, they would have enough votes to impeach⁹ him.

这次选举并不涉及总统选举，因此没有人挑战穆沙拉夫总统的地位，但是，如果反对派政党赢得议会中三分之二的议席，他们将有足够的票数弹劾穆沙拉夫。

Early results are expected late Monday, but final official figures may not be available for several days.

预计星期一晚上选举的初步结果就会出来，但是最终的官方计票结果要过几天才能揭晓。

In recent decades, turnout has been modest, running about 40 percent in the last national elections in 2002.

最近几十年，参加投票的选民人数一直不太高，在2002年举行的上一次全国选举中，有大约40%的选民参加了投票。