As per State Election Commission of Jammu & Kashmir, the UT recorded 57.22 percent polling in the seventh phase of the election which was held on Wednesday, 16 December. Voting is also underway for 438 panch and 69 sarpanch seats across J&K.
While Kashmir recorded 39.52 percent polling, Jammu recorded 71.93 percent.
State Election Commissioner (SEC) KK Sharma, while addressing a press conference, had informed that a total of 31 DDC constituencies will go to the polls on Wednesday, 13 in Kashmir division and 18 in Jammu division.
Thirteen DDC constituencies in Kashmir division were going to the polls on Wednesday, he added. In Kashmir, there are 148 candidates in the fray including 34 females, whereas in Jammu division, there are 150 candidates in the fray for the 18 DDC constituencies, out of which 38 are women.
In all the 31 DDC constituencies, a total of 6,87,115 electors (3,59,187 males and 3,27,928 females) are going to elect their representatives. As many as 1,852 polling stations have been designated for the polling, out of which 1,068 are in Kashmir division and 784 are in Jammu division.
Out of the 117 sarpanch vacancies notified in the seventh phase, 30 have been elected unopposed, as per SEC. There shall be a contest in 69 constituencies and 231 candidates, including 79 females.
There are total 1,270 panch vacancies notified in this phase, out of which 416 were elected unopposed. 438 constituencies will go to the polls with 1,000 candidates, including 287 female candidates, he added.
The SEC said that all the requisite arrangements for this phase are in place, including man power, election materials and security arrangements in all the poll-bound areas.
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, adequate arrangements were put in place to ensure the safety of all stakeholders, including the voters. Sanitisers, thermal scanners and face masks were arranged at the polling stations to ensure that SOPs issued by the authorities were strictly followed.
DDC elections and panchayat bypolls are being held in eight phases from 28 November to 19 December. The counting of votes will take place on 22 December.
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