A total voter turnout of 65.48 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the ongoing third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Assembly polls, the office of the chief election officer, J&K said on Tuesday evening.
As of 5 pm, the highest voter turn was recorded in Akhnoor (SC) at 76.28 per cent Followed by Gurez at 75.89 per cent.
The lowest voter turnout of 41.44 per cent was observed in Sopore.
Officials said brisk voting was continuing with record participation expected in this phase.
Polling took place for a total of 24 seats from Jammu in this phase, along with 16 from north Kashmir’s three districts of Kupwara, Baramulla, and Bandipora.
As per official ECI data, there are 39.18 lakh electors eligible for voting in this phase. Stringent security measures have been put in place to ensure smooth and incident-free polling.
Reports said enthusiastic voters lined up early and waited in queues patiently to participate in the festival of democracy.
Pollsters predict improved voter turnout with brisk voting taking place along all 40 constituencies.
A turnout of around 10 per cent was recorded in just two hours, followed by 44 per cent till 1 pm and 56 per cent till 3 pm, as per official figures.
The percentage recorded in the earlier two phases stood around 61 in Phase One held on September 18, and 57 in Phase II held on September 25.
Assembly elections in J&K are taking place after ten years and for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
While major parties like NC and Congress are fighting under a seat-sharing agreement, the BJP is contesting alone, hoping for a clean sweep in Jammu, a task that seems almost impossible due to regional and religious dynamics in the region.
Experts predict that it is less likely that any single party will be able to form the government on its own; rather, there will be a coalition government.
Vote counting and results will be announced on October 8 alongside the results of the Haryana Polls.
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