Polling booth
Representational ImageIANS File

3PM: Over 50% turnout recorded in Jammu and Kashmir as well as Jharkhand at 2 PM and 3 PM respectively.

2 PM: According to Election Commission sources, 32.10 per cent of the total 44,31,900 voters exercised their franchise in the first four hours of the Jharkhand Assembly Elections (2nd phase).

1 PM: Ramnagar Assembly in J&K records 16.96 percent polling. The figures recoded in the other constituencies are as follows:

Chenani - 11.38%

Mendhar - 11%

Noorabad, Lolab - 10.50% each

Surankote - 9.85%

Karnah - 9%

Poonch Haveli - 8.80%

Kulgam - 8.18%

12.30 PM: Almost 10 percent of the 15.35 lakh electorate in Jammu and Kashmir exercise their franchise in the first two hours.

11:10 AM: A turnout of 16.32 percent has been recorded in the first couple of hours in Jharkhand where polling is underway in the second phase. The 20 constituencies are also grappling with Maoist insurgency.

10:45 AM: In the nine constituencies of the Kashmir Valley, the polling that's been recorded so far has been moderate.

10:30 AM: In the first hour in J&K, about 5 percent voter turnout has been recorded.

8.30 AM: Voting for the second phase of elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand got underway amid tight security on Tuesday morning.

Voters lined up at polling stations across the Jammu region; however, intense morning fog and winter chill prevented them to come out in large numbers in the Kashmir Valley.

Balloting began in 18 assembly constituencies on Tuesday, officials said.

Enthusiastic voters lined up in queues outside polling stations in Udhampur, Chenani, Ramnagar and Reasi constituencies, while the voter turnout was low in the morning in Gulabgarh, Gool Arnas, Mendhar and Poonch Havelli constituencies of the Jammu region.

In the Valley, voters could not come out in large numbers in south Kashmir Devsar, Homeshallibugh, Noorabad and Kulgam constituencies because of the cold winter.

In the north Kashmir Kupwara district also where polling has begun for five constituencies, the voter turnout was low in the morning.

Officials said voting is expected to pick up as the day warms up.

Balloting also began for 20 of the 81 assembly seats in the second of the five-phase elections in Jharkhand, officials said.

Over 44 lakh voters will decide the fate of 223 candidates in the fray.

A total of 5,051 polling booths have been set up for the second phase.

In the second phase, 17 of the 20 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The Bharatiya Janata Party had won eight of the seats in the 2009 assembly polls.

Two former chief ministers - Arjun Munda and Madhu Koda - are contesting from Seraikela and Majhgao seats, respectively.

(With inputs from IANS)

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