In Jammu and Kashmir, undeterred by the weather vagaries across the expansive canvas of the five districts of Doda, Kathua, Kishtwar, Ramban, and Udhampur, which underwent polling on April 19, the voters embraced their civic duty with fervour and exhibited unwavering determination. Akashvani Jammu Correspondent reports that the polling for the First Phase of General Elections to the 18th Lok Sabha in the Udhampur-Kathua Parliamentary Constituency has concluded peacefully. The voting percentage was around 68.27 percent. After two hours of polling, 8.44 percent of polling was recorded in the constituency at 09:00 AM. By 11:00 AM, 22.60 percent of voters had cast their votes, while by 1:00 PM, 43.11 percent had been cast. By 3:00 PM, 57.09 percent of voting had been recorded. By 5:00 PM, 65.08 percent of polling had been recorded in the constituency. The district-wise breakup was 67.75 percent for Kishtwar, 66.42 percent for Doda, 62.42 percent for Ramban, 70.76 percent for Udhampur, and 70.06 percent for Kathua District. There were 2637 polling stations set up for 16.23 lakh electors in five districts.
More than 11 thousand polling staff have performed the poll duty. At every polling station, the basic minimum facilities of water, electricity, toilet, ramp, verandah/waiting room, etc. were provided. Even wheelchairs and helpers were provided to needy voters. Around 1440 polling stations had CCTV for live webcasting to control rooms. The polling started at 7 a.m. and continued until 6 p.m. or the conclusion of the polling row, whichever was later. To ensure inclusive voting, 19 polling booths were manned by women (also called pink polling stations), 14 polling booths were manned by specially-abled persons, and 17 were manned by youths. Also, to spread the message about environmental concerns, there were 20 green polling stations. To facilitate voter identification, apart from EPIC cards, other documents such as Aadhaar cards, bank Passbooks, driving licences, PAN cards, and government employee ID cards were also allowed as per ECI directions. Media facilitation was done through passes for more than 660 journalists. The Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, and their respective district election officers encouraged all eligible voters to come forward and cast their votes responsibly.
