Municipal Polls-2018 Counting of Votes today

SRINAGAR: The stage is set for the final leg of urban local body elections in State as the counting of votes for the 52 out of 79 civic bodies, polling for which was held in four phases earlier this month, will be done on Saturday.

The rest 27 civic bodies- all of them in the Kashmir Valley, didn’t go to voting either because there was no candidate or only one candidate had filed nominations for a particular ward.

“The counting of votes for the Municipal Polls-2018 will be held across the State tomorrow on 20th October 2018 and the results will be also declared the same day,” Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), J&K, Shaleen Kabra said this evening.

"All the arrangements for counting of votes have been put in place at respective district headquarters. The counting of votes will begin at 9 am,” he said.

He said the counting updates and results shall be declared by the concerned Returning Officers from the Joint Control Rooms established at the venue of counting at the respective district headquarters.

Pertinently, the Municipal Elections-2018 were held in four phases, covering 79 municipal bodies with an electorate of about 17 lakh electors. A total of 3372 nominations were filed for 1145 Wards and the voting was held on 8th, 10th, 13th and 16th October.

Meanwhile, according to instructions issued by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, only Counting Supervisors, Counting Assistants, Observers, Micro-observers, Persons authorized by CEO (possessing authority letter duly issued by CEO), Authorized public servants on duty in connection with the election, and the candidates, their election agents and counting agents will be allowed inside the Counting Hall.

According to these instructions, before counting begins at the designated venue in each district, the concerned Returning Officer shall ensure that no unauthorized persons is present in the counting hall.

It said no counting agent shall be admitted into the place fixed for counting, unless he/she has delivered to RO the second copy of his appointment letter after duly completing and signing the declaration contained therein and also the photo identity card issued by the RO. The election agents of the candidates are also required to produce the attested duplicate copy of their appointment letters, it said adding that the entry of persons should be strictly regulated and no unauthorized person, whosoever he/she may be, should be allowed to enter the place of counting.

In Jammu, the counting will be done at the Government Polytechnic college, he said.

The elections are a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress. A large number of independents are also in the fray. The National Conference and the PDP did not participate in the polls.

The urban local bodies polls in Jammu and Kashmir were held after a gap of 13 years, with the last elections being conducted in 2005.

The polling was held amid tight security arrangements in four phases starting October 8 and ending on October 16. While moderate to heavy polling was witnessed in Jammu and Ladakh regions, the Kashmir valley saw an abysmally low voter turnout.

Nearly 17 lakh voters were eligible to vote for 79 urban local bodies of the state but polling was held only for 52. No voting was held in 27 civic bodies in the Valley either because there was no candidate or only one candidate had filed nominations for a particular ward.

Of the 598 wards in Kashmir, 231 candidates were elected unopposed, while there were no candidates on 181 wards.

The overall voting percentage for these polls in the state stood at 35.1 per cent.

In the valley, there were no signs of any electioneering in the run up to the polls as militant outfits had threatened to target those taking part in the elections in any form, while separatist groups like the Hurriyat Conference had called for a boycott.

The election authorities kept secret the identity of the contesting candidates in view of the security threat to them, prompting political parties, which were against conduct of polls in the present circumstances, to question the genuineness of the process.