Leh, Oct 22: Over Sixty five percent votes were polled on Thursday for the 6th general election ofLadakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) in Leh, officials said Thursday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Leh, Sonam Chosjor  said that 65.07 percent votes were polled throughout the day for LAHDC election.

He said that everything remained peaceful and everything went normal during the polling.

“No untoward incident took place anywhere in Leh”, he said. An official privy to the election procedure said that an electorate of 89,776, including 45,025 women were eligible to exercise their franchise.

He said that a total number of 294 polling stations were spread over 26 constituencies across Leh district.

A total number or 94 candidates, including 26 each of the BJP and Congress, 19 from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and 23 independent candidates are in fray, he said.

The official also said that the counting of votes will take place on October 26 and the poll process is expected to be completed by October 30. “LAHDC-Leh has a total of 30 seats and four councilors are nominated by the government,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Leh Sachin Kumar Vaishya, who is election officer for LAHDC election giving the details during a press briefing said: “It is for the first time electronic voting machines (EVMs) are used for LAHDC, Leh election.”

He said: “Female polling teams were deployed on 57 polling stations out of the 294 polling stations including 75% female staff on another 38 polling stations. Skyu-Markha constituency recorded the highest voter turnout with 83.5 % while Lower Leh constituency recorded lowest turnout with 48.63 %.”

Adhering to the Covid-19 guidelines and considering the rising cases, all standard safety measures like wearing of masks, using sanitizers and following social distancing were sincerely followed at every polling booth, the election authority said.

Pertinently, two major regional political parties that include, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference chose to stay away from the election.

It may be recalled that the first phase of election was successfully conducted on 13 and 14th October through postal ballot services for which 2100 eligible voters had opted for that include paramilitary forces, specially-abled and people over 65-years of age—(KN0)