ISLAMABAD, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday decided to increase the time of polling by one hour in order to ensure maximum public participation for the country's upcoming general elections to be held on July 25.

According to a notification issued by the commission, polling will be held from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. local time on the election day. The process of polling will continue uninterrupted for 10 hours and there would be no recess during the stipulated period.

The decision of extending voting time has been taken for the first time in the country's electoral history to ensure maximum voter turnout.

The ECP has set-up 185,000 polling stations for the general elections across the country for the lower house of the country's parliament and the four provincial assemblies.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistani army's media wing the Inter-Services Public Relations announced in a statement that military will provide security for the free, fair and transparent conduct of general elections in 2018.

According to ECP, 350,000 military personnel will be deployed inside and outside the polling stations during the balloting exercise to maintain law and order.