The first phase of  zilla and taluk panchayat elections held across 15 districts in the State on Saturday clocked an overall poll percentage of 74.37 with Bengaluru Rural  recording the highest voter turnout of 83.9 per cent.

According to the final voting statistics released by the State Election Commission here on Sunday, Ramanagara district stood second clocking voter turnout of 81.95 per cent followed by Kolar district (81.52 per cent).

At the bottom of the table stood Gadag with 67.28 per cent of the 5.25 lakh voters exercising their franchise. Gadag is preceded by Uttara Kannada (67.54 per cent). With the fate of candidates for 552 zilla panchayat seats and 1,945 taluk panchayat seats sealed in EVMs, all eyes will now be on the second phase of polls scheduled to be held on February 20. 

15 districts

A total of 15 districts including Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Hassan, Kodagu, Mandya, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Bidar, Ballari, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Koppal and Vijayapura will go to polls on that day. As many as 1.42 crore registered voters can exercise their franchise during the second phase. The counting of votes will be taken up on February 23.

District    Polling     percentage

Bengaluru Rural    83.90  
Ramanagara    81.95
Kolar    81.52
Chikkaballapur    80.97
Davanagere    75.63 
Tumakuru    75.07
Shivamogga    73.05   
Haveri    72.37
Chitradurga    71.81
Bagalkot    71.16
Belagavi    70.83
Dharwad    70.75
Bengaluru Urban    69.77
Uttara Kannada    67.54
Gadag    67.28

(Source: State Election Commission)