First phase of AP panchayat elections sees 81.42 per cent voter turnout

(Eds: updating with final voter percentage turnout) Amaravati, Feb 9 (PTI): The first phase of polling for2,723 panchayats in Andhra Pradesh ended peacefully with 81.42per cent turnout, the State Election Commission said here onTuesday.

The SEC, however, did not provide the total number ofeligible voters.

''The State Election Commission expresses its satisfactionon completion of Phase-I elections to Gram Panchayats in theState,'' it said.

Polling began at 6.30 AM and ended 3.30 PM, whilecounting of votes began at 4 PM, officials said.

Polling was also held to elect 20,157 ward members.

With the completion of the first phase, the polls will beconducted till February 21 in another three phases.

The SEC hoped that the same trends would continue in thesubsequent phases.

According to the Panchayat Raj department, elections wereto be held for 3,249 posts of panchayat sarpanchs.

However since 525 were unanimously elected and nonomination was filed for a village in Nellore district, pollswere held for 2,723 panchayats.

As many as 7,506 candidates contested for sarpanch postsand 43,601 were in the fray for ward members.

The elections were held using ballot paper and withoutany political party symbols.

A total of 29,732 polling stations were set up, of which3,458 were identified as sensitive and 3,594 hypersensitive,the department said.

All necessary precautions were taken as per COVID-19protocol amid tight security and PPE kits were provided tovoters infected by the virus, it added.