Srinagar, December 11: The voting for the ninth and final phase of panchayat polls has begun across the state amid tight security. Polling will end at 2 PM today. According to the Chief Electoral Officer Jammu and Kashmir, 430 candidates are in the fray for 55 sarpanch and 138 panch seats while 68 sarpanch and 433 panch have been elected unopposed for this phase. An electorate of 68745 is eligible for voting for sarpanch constituencies whereas it is 20688 for panch constituencies.

The polling is being held in different blocks of Kashmir's nine districts- Kupwara, Bandipora, Baramulla, Ganderbal, Budgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag. In this phase, 452 polling stations are being set up of which 346 have been categorised as hypersensitive. As per the Chief Electoral Officer, Basic Minimum Facilities (BMF) have been ensured in all the polling stations for facilitating the voters and security arrangements have been made including the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Elections 2018: Polling for 8th Phase Underway with 6,304 Candidates in Fray.

In the eighth phase, held on December 8, an overall voter turnout of 79.9 per cent was recorded in the state, with Kashmir division recording a voter turnout of 49.6 percent while Jammu division witnessing a voter turnout of 85.1 per cent.

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