Polling peaceful, incident-free so far: J&K CEO P K Pole

Jammu, Sep 18: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole on Wednesday said polling is proceeding peacefully in the first phase of the assembly elections and is incident-free.

He also expressed confidence that turnout will exceed 60 per cent.

"Polling is being conducted on a large scale. The way polling is progressing indicates a high turnout. We anticipate over 60 per cent polling. So far, the polling has been peaceful and incident-free," Pole told PTI.

The official was visiting various polling stations set up for Kashmiri migrants in Jammu city's Muthi area.

He said polling was taking place for 24 assembly constituencies at 3,266 polling stations in the first phase.

Pole said 26 per cent of votes had been polled till 11 am.

"We have set up 19 polling stations for Kashmiri migrants to vote for 16 assembly segments of Kashmir," he said.

Pole added that he had visited various polling stations for Kashmiri migrants in Jammu and that nearly 20 per cent of votes had been polled.

Polling is taking place in 24 assembly constituencies across seven districts of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. Over 23 lakh voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 independents.

These will be the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. For the first phase of voting, Jammu and Kashmir police have implemented elaborate security arrangements to ensure maximum voter turnout

A total of 23,27,580 electors are eligible to vote in Phase 1, comprising 11,76,462 males, 11,51,058 females, and 60 third-gender electors.

Additionally, 1.23 lakh youths aged between 18 to 19 years, along with 28,309 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and 15,774 elderly voters above the age of 85, are eligible to exercise their franchise in Phase 1.