Irrespective of age, old and young exercised their franchise in the first phase of rural local body elections.
According to officials, 81.68% cast their votes.
In the first phase, elections were held for 12 panchayat unions, Edappadi, Kadayampatti, Kolathur, Konganapuram, Magudanchavadi, Mecheri, Nangavelli, Omalur, Sankagiri, Tharamangalam, Veerapandi and Yercaud. Among unions, highest polling was recorded at Veerapandy.
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A total of 8,000 candidates contested for 2, 294 positions. 104 candidates contested for 17 district panchayat ward member, 834 for 169 panchayat union ward member, 879 for 194 village panchayat president and 6,183 candidates for 1,914 village panchayat ward member positions.
According to officials, 1,568 polling booths were set up at 687 centres here. Across 12 panchayat unions, 34 booths were set up for men, 34 for women and 1,120 common booths were set up.
At one of the polling booths in Poolavari, men wearing AIADMK party flag coloured dhothi (kara vetti) were found casting votes on the pretext of assisting voters at a polling booth in Poolavari under Veerapandi Panchayat Union.
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In Karavalli near Omalur, polling was stopped temporarily for about two hours after government seal was found imprinted in about 63 voting slips. Following protest from DMK and other parties, the voting slips books were changed and new sealed voting slip books were brought for voting. Young voters who exercised their franchise for the first time said it was a new experience.
A 94-year-old elderly woman Chinnapillai exercised her franchise at a polling booth under Veerapandi Union.