The first phase of the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat elections recorded 81.42 per cent voter turnout, the State Election Commission said on Tuesday. The polling held for 2,723 panchayats in Andhra Pradesh ended peacefully on February 9th.

The SEC in its statement said that,"The State Election Commission expresses its satisfaction on completion of Phase-I elections to Gram Panchayats in the State." The polling started at 6:30 am and ended by 3:30 PM, while the counting of votes started at 4 PM. Krishna district has recorded 85.6 per cent voter turnout and it was the highest. Polling was also conducted to elect 20,157 ward members.

Another three phases of polls will be conducted and it will come to an end by February 21. According to the Panchayat Raj department, elections were to be held for 3,249 posts of panchayat sarpanchs.

A total of 525 have been unanimously elected and no nomination was filed for a village in Nellore district. As many as 7,506 candidates contested for sarpanch posts and 43,601 were in the fray for ward members. The elections were conducted using ballot paper and without any political party symbols.