Srinagar : With the conclusion of the third phase of the urban local body elections in Jammu and Kashmir, a total of 3.49 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Saturday in militancy-hit Kashmir Valley. On the other hand, a high turnout of 82 per cent was recorded in Jammu Samba district.
While the frontier town of Uri in Baramulla district recorded a 75.34 per cent turnout, in the 20 wards of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) only 1.84 per cent of the 1.53 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise.
The polling which had begun at 6 am and concluded at 4 pm, went peacefully. The elections began on October 8, followed by the second phase on October 10. The fourth and last phase is scheduled to be held on October 16. The counting of votes will be done on October 20.
Meanwhile Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) J&K, Shaleen Kabra told a press conference in Srinagar on Saturday evening that the overall 16.4% polling was witnessed in the Phase-III of Municipal Polls-2018 across J&K.
Kabra said in Jammu division 81.4% polling was witnessed in 4 ULBs of district Samba that went to polls Saturday while Kashmir division witnessed average 3.5% polling with Municipal Committee Uri recording the highest of 75.3 % voting. The lowest poll percentage of 1.8% was recorded in Srinagar.
In Jammu division highest polling percentage of 85.73% was recorded in Bari Brahamana ULB, the CEO said.
He said the cumulative poll percentage in all the three phases till date is 41.9% with 68.4% voting recorded in Jammu division and 6.7% in Kashmir Division. The final phase of the Municipal Polls is scheduled to be held on 16 October 2018.
Kabra said 365 candidates were in the fray for 96 wards of 8 Urban Local Bodies for the 3rd Phase comprising a total electorate of 193990 electors.
The CEO said due to non-replacement of EVM in time, repoll shall be held at Polling Station No: 9 Bachidarwaza of Makhdoom Sahab (Ward No: 41) on 16 October 2018.
