PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun The rural voters turned out in large numbers to exercise their franchise in the first phase of polling for the three tier Panchayat bodies in the State held on Thursday. The State Election Commission (SEC) reported a voter turnout of 55 per cent till 5 PM. The voting was overall peaceful in all parts of the State. The fate of 17,829 candidates on the posts of member district Panchayat, member block Panchayat, village Pradhan and member village Panchayat was sealed in the ballot boxes after the end of voting in the first phase. Great enthusiasm was visible among the villagers for the election as long queues were visible in most of the polling stations in the 12 districts of the State. The voters braved rains and bad weather in many areas to cast their franchise. Large number of voters currently residing in the cities had come to their villages to participate in the polls. The voters were provided ballot papers of different colours for the four posts of the Panchayati Raj bodies. The voting commenced peacefully in all the booths at 8 AM and ended at 5 PM. The data of the SEC shows that 11.72 per cent voters had exercised their franchise till 10 AM on the day. The voter turnout increased to 27 per cent at 12 AM and further increased to 41.87 per cent till 2 PM. A total of 55 per cent voters had exercised their franchise till 4 PM. A total of 26 lakh voters were registered for the elections in the first phase. The SEC data shows that 878 candidates were in fray for 201 posts of district Panchayat members while there were 5,044 candidates for 1,507 posts of block Panchayat members. Similarly 9,835 candidates were in contention for 3,393 posts of Gram Pradhan while 2,247 candidates were in fray for 948 posts of Gram Panchayat members. The Panchayat elections are being held in 89 blocks of 12 districts of the State barring Haridwar. The commission has deployed 55 general observers and 12 reserved observers in the Panchayat elections in the State. After the end of the voting the ballot boxes of Pradhans, Gram Panchayat members and block Panchayat members transferred to the respective block headquarters while the boxes of members of district Panchayat were carried to district headquarters. The counting of the votes will be done on December 31.
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