LAHORE— The party of Imran Khan, a former Pakistani cricket star, pulled firmly ahead in the early count after Wednesday’s elections, but the results were disputed by dozens of candidates who lodged complaints of vote rigging.

Mr. Khan, 65, is the country’s most dynamic politician, and many believe that Pakistan’s influential military has been helping his campaign by intimidating, blackmailing and impeding his political rivals. He has railed against the United States’ counterterrorism policy in the region.

Mr. Khan’s party was leading in 110 constituencies while the party in second place maintained a lead in 67 constituencies, according to reports by Pakistani state-run television stations, with about half of the votes counted by 3 a.m. on Thursday. The partial results were unofficial, the television station said.(NYtimes.com)…[+]