Ranchi, February 23 Over 23 per cent voter turnout was recorded by 11 am in the civic polls for 48 urban local bodies in Jharkhand on Monday, an election official said.
Voting, which commenced at 7 am, is underway under tight security. It will continue until 5 pm, he said.
"A voter turnout of 23.23 per cent was recorded by 11 am. Polling is proceeding peacefully," State Election Commission (SEC) secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad said.
Basukinath Nagar Panchayat recorded the highest turnout of 31.05 per cent, while the Ranchi Municipal Corporation registered the lowest at 14.60 per cent, followed by the Dhanbad Municipal Corporation at 14.79 per cent.
Over 43 lakh voters are eligible to decide the fate of over 6,000 candidates.
State Election Commissioner (SEC) Alka Tiwari exercised her franchise at ward number 40 in Ranchi.
"Polling is proceeding peacefully across the state, and reports so far are positive from all the ULBs. I would like to appeal to the voters to exercise their franchise," Tiwari told reporters.
Long queues of voters, especially women, were seen at most polling stations. However, in two major municipal corporation areas – Ranchi and Dhanbad – fewer electors had turned up to cast their votes.
Union Minister of State for Defence, Sanjay Seth, exercised his franchise at a booth in the Kaju Bagan area of Ranchi.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren was also expected to visit his booth at St. Paul Kuldeep High School in Ranchi's Harmu area, according to an official statement.
In Pakur, which has a substantial Muslim population, women lined up at polling stations in large numbers to exercise their franchise, despite the month of Ramzan.
Prasad said that the elections are underway for the posts of mayor and chairperson in 48 ULBs, and councillors in 1,042 wards across nine municipal corporations, 20 nagar parishads, and 19 nagar panchayats.
As many as 562 candidates, including 235 women, are contesting for the posts of mayor and chairperson, while 5,562 candidates, including 2,727 women, are contesting for the posts of ward councillors.
Prasad said adequate security arrangements have been made at all the booths.
A total of 4,307 polling booths have been set up for the elections. Of these, 896 have been identified as hyper-sensitive, and 2,445 as sensitive.
The ULB polls in Jharkhand are not contested on the electoral symbols of political parties, but candidates are supported by the outfits.