Elections to 558 village councils across nine districts and 83 local councils within the Aizawl Municipal Corporation (AMC) were held in Mizoram on Thursday amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

State Election Commission (MSEC) officials said 11.7% of the 2,18,758 voters across the AMC local councils had cast their votes by noon.

“The final figure will be available by afternoon on Friday, the day of counting. We expect the voting percentage to be more than 50%,” they said.

Polling was peaceful: SEC

State Election Commissioner Laima Chozah said the polling was peaceful and in adherence to the standard operating procedure and safety protocol for all voters and polling staff and parties.

“The term of the village councils expired on May 7 but was extended till September 7 due to the COVID-19 outbreak,” he said.

“Thanking all the election officials and every part-taker for providing a safe platform to many voters in exercising our constitutional franchise amidst this pandemic,” Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga tweeted after casting his vote in Aizawl.

Mr. Zoramthanga is also the president of the Mizo National Front (MNF) which seeks to wrest control of the village and local councils from the Congress.

The Congress tied up with the Zoram People’s Movement, the principal Opposition party, in 35 village councils but contested without any alliance elsewhere. The other parties in the fray include the Bharatiya Jatana Party, the National People’s Party and the Hmar People’s Convention.

2,102 women in fray

In all, 8,490 candidates including 2,102 women are contesting the polls.

The MSEC officials said polling has been deferred in 24 local and eight village councils as they have been declared as containment zones.

By Thursday afternoon, Mizoram recorded 974 positive cases with 474 of them active. Health officials said about 40% of the cases are from the paramilitary forces.