Voters in Indian Kashmir Record Second-highest Turnout in Decades

Voter turnout in India-controlled Kashmir reached record highs Monday as residents swarmed polling stations across Srinagar in the first national election since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2019 nullification of the Himalayan region’s semi-autonomous status, VOA reported yesterday.

Marking the second-highest voting percentage in more than three decades, Monday’s turnout of at least 36% reverses a long-running trend of unusually low vote counts, the source added.

More than double the 2019 election turnout of 14.43%, Monday’s turnout, according to regional election officials, remains lower than India’s national average of 62%.