AP Panchayat Elections 2021: 82 per cent voter turnout in first phase

Amaravati(AP), Feb 09: Counting of votes for 2,723 panchayats is currently underway. In the first phase, 7,506 candidates were in the contest for over 2,700 gram panchayats. Voting began at 6.30 AM and ended at 3.30 PM.

Besides panchayats, elections were held to elect 20,157 ward members. In the first phase, elections were to be held for 3,249 panchayats but 525 had already been unanimously elected and no nomination was filed for a village in Nellore district.

As many as 7,506 candidates are contesting for sarpanch posts and 43,601 are in the fray for ward members.

The elections are being held using ballot paper and without any political party symbols. The department had said 29,732 polling stations were set up, out of which 3,458 have been identified as sensitive and 3,594 hypersensitive.

All necessary precautions are in place as per COVID-19 protocol amid tight security and PPE kits will be provided to voters infected by the virus, it added.