Andhra Pradesh urban local body polls record 60.96% turnout; repolls ordered

The State Election Commission (SEC) has announced that the final voting percentage, recorded at 5 p.m., was 60.96% across the 12 municipal corporations and 79 municipalities and nagar panchayats that went to the polls on November 1. In all, 91 urban local bodies voted.

According to the SEC data, 59,06,255 voters cast their votes out of 96,89,061 electors. The election covered 12 municipal corporations and 79 municipalities and nagar panchayats. Municipal corporations are urban local bodies set up for larger cities, while municipalities and nagar panchayats cover smaller urban areas. Voters elect representatives to these bodies, which take decisions on local civic services and governance. These bodies are responsible for services such as water supply, sanitation, roads and local planning, depending on their powers under State law.

The SEC is the authority that conducts and supervises local body elections in the State. The turnout figure is based on the votes polled in the urban local bodies covered by the Commission’s announcement. The Commission compiles the data from polling stations and municipal bodies. Turnout is calculated as the share of electors who cast their votes. The Commission’s data shows that more than half of the electors in the urban local bodies covered by the announcement exercised their franchise. The overall percentage announced by the Commission is 60.96%.

Chimakurthy municipality in Prakasam district recorded the highest polling at 84.36%. Kanigiri in Markapuram district, where the election was held only in two wards, had the second-highest turnout at 83.86%, followed by Gudur (K) in Kurnool district at 83.73%. Four other municipalities — Penukonda, Nandikotkur, Badvel and Nellimarla — recorded polling percentages above 80%.

Among the 12 municipal corporations for which the SEC has furnished final data, Ongole registered the highest polling percentage at 71.27%, while Tirupati recorded the lowest at 46.85%. The figures show a wide variation in turnout across urban local bodies, ranging from Tirupati’s 46.85% to Chimakurthy’s 84.36%.

For Greater Visakhapatnam, the turnout was 50.02% as of 3 p.m. The final report for the corporation was yet to be submitted, the SEC said. The Commission’s overall turnout figure is based on the data recorded at 5 p.m.

Separately, the SEC ordered repolling at specific polling stations after citing booth capturing. Repolling will be held at polling station 15/2 of Ward No. 15 in Kadapa Municipal Corporation. It will also be held at polling stations 1/1, 3/1, 7/1 and 8/1 in Ward Nos. 1, 3, 7 and 8 of Pulivendula, and at polling stations 3/2, 17/1 and 29/1 of Ward Nos. 3, 17 and 29 in Jammalamadugu municipality.

The SEC’s announcement provides the turnout recorded at 5 p.m. for most of the urban local bodies that voted on November 1, while the Greater Visakhapatnam figure remains pending. The repolling order covers only the listed polling stations. The Commission’s data places the overall turnout at 60.96% for the 91 urban local bodies that went to the polls.