61.80 percent voter turnout till 8 pm in Rajasthan panchayat polls

Nearly 61.80 per cent voting was recorded till 8 PM in elections for panchayat samiti and respective zila parishads in 21 districts of Rajasthan on Monday. Polling will be held in four phases.

Jaipur: Over 61 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 8 pm in the first phase of Rajasthan panchayat elections on Monday.

The polling began in the morning amid tight security arrangements at 10,131 polling booths.

According to state election commission sources, 61.80 percent voters voted till 8 pm in the elections to 65 panchayat samitis and zilla parishads across 21 districts of the state.

The voting began at 7.30 am at 10,131 polling booths to elect 1310 members, sources in election commission said.

The elections in the first phase are being held in Ajmer, Banswara, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, Pali, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Sikar, Tonk and Udaipur.

Nearly 25,000 EVMs are being used in the first phase, which is conducted by more than 50,000 State government employees. The polling for second, third and fourth phases will be held on November 27, December 1 and December 5, respectively, election commission sources said.

The counting for all four phases of elections will be held on December 8.