Ranchi, May 22 (PTI) Counting of votes for the second phase of panchayat polls in Jharkhand, which began on Sunday, was currently underway amid tight security, an election official said.

As the polling was conducted in ballot papers, it will take days to declare the final results, State Election Commission (SEC) Secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad stated.

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The second round of four-phase panchayat polls was held on May 19.

Over 68 per cent of 38.82 lakh voters exercised their franchise at 872 panchayats, where a total of 21,872 candidates were in the fray for the posts of mukhiyas, zilla parishad members, panchayat members among others.

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As many as 5,093 eligible candidates have already been declared elected unopposed in this phase.

Panchayat elections in Jharkhand are not held on party lines.

Meanwhile, campaigning for the third phase of panchayat polls came to an end on Sunday evening.

A total of 1,047 panchayats will go to the polls on May 24 in the third phase.

Counting will take place on May 31.

The final phase of elections will take place on May 27.

Results of the first phase of polls were announced last week.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)