Voter turnout on the first day of four-phase civic elections that have been boycotted by the two main parties in the Kashmir Valley was recorded at 56.7 percent on October 8 evening.
Shaleen Kabra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) J&K, said, “The overall polling percentage across the State in the 1st phase of Municipal Polls-2018 has been recorded 56.7 percent.”
J&K Governor Satyapal Malik reportedly said, “It is a historic election in Kashmir for local bodies taking place after 13 years.”
Polling began at 7 am and ended at 4 pm amidst tight security provided by thousands of police and paramilitary personnel.
“Only 7,057 voters of the 84,692 eligible persons turned up to vote in the wards which went to polls Monday. The polling was by and large peaceful,” District Election Officer Ramesh Kumar said.
Updates:
The results will be announced on October 20.
The electoral process went off smoothly in the Valley, with just one incident of stone-pelting reported in a Srinagar ward.
Bandipore recorded the lowest voter turnout of 2.5 per cent.
Anantnag, Budgam and Baramulla, areas heavily infested by militancy, registered voter turnouts of 6.1 per cent, 12 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.
Rajouri and Poonch recorded 67.7 per cent and 63.5 percent voting percentage respectively.
Jammu and Leh recorded voting percentages of 43.4 and 44.2, respectively.
