Voting for the third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections began at 7 am on Tuesday, with 40 out of the 90 seats in the Union territory going to polls.

These are the first Assembly elections in the Union territory since the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Till 9 am, a voter turnout of 11.6% was recorded in the Union territory. Samba district recorded the highest turnout of 13.31% and the lowest was seen in Baramulla at 8.89%.

A total of 415 candidates are in the fray in seven districts: Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir.

Among the prominent faces contesting on Tuesday include People’s Conference chairperson and former minister Sajjad Lone, who is contesting from two seats in Kupwara.

Two former deputy chief ministers – Tara Chand and Muzaffar Baig – are also in the fray. While Chand, a Congress veteran, is contesting from Chhamb, Baig is fighting from Baramulla on a Peoples Democratic Party ticket.

National Panthers Party India chief Dev Singh is contesting the polls from Chenani. Former ministers Raman Bhalla is fighting from RS Pura, Usman Majid from Bandipora, Nazir Ahmad Khan from Gurez, Taj Mohiuddin from Uri and Basharat Bukhari from Wagoora-Kreeri.

More than 39.18 lakh voters are eligible to vote in this phase across 5,060 polling stations, PTI reported.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters “to come forward and cast their votes to make the festival of democracy a success”.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also asked those casting their ballots to “use their vote power to form a government that keeps Jammu and Kashmir away from terrorism, separatism, nepotism and corruption and is determined to protect the rights of every section”.

The first phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir on 24 seats saw a voter turnout of 61%, while the second phase recorded a 57.31% turnout.