Third phase polling: 58 percent turnout in Kashmir, 61 in Jharkhand

The third phase of polling for 16 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday recorded 58 percent voter turnout, while in Jharkhand, the polling percentage for 17 assembly constituencies was 61 percent, Election Commission officials said.

The turnout in Kashmir was up from 52.13 percent recorded in 2009, Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi said.

Another poll panel official Umesh Sinha said that in Jharkhand, the polling percentage was up from 54.85 percent recorded in 2009.

In Kashmir, the three districts of Baramulla, Budgam and Pulwama saw polling percentages of 57, 70 and 43, respectively.

"Polling was peaceful and there was no untoward incident," Zutshi said.

The overall cash seizure for the third phase was Rs. 91.81 lakh.

In the eight districts of Jharkhand that voted Tuesday, there were 5,865 polling stations out of which 271 were critical.

Sinha said Rs.1.33 crore in cash was seized from the state.