Pakistan-administered Kashmir goes to the polls despite protests

MUZAFFARABAD, July 27: Polls opened on Monday in parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir where voting for the local legislature will take place in three rounds with heavy security following protests demanding electoral reforms.

With concerns growing over stretched security personnel during the demonstrations, the electoral commission announced less than a week before polls that voting would be split into three phases for the first time.

Witnesses said turnout in Mirpur district, the first area to vote, appeared low in the summer heat on Monday afternoon.

Some candidates complained internet restrictions imposed during the protests and ensuing deadly clashes had hampered their campaigns.

"The internet shutdown has created serious difficulties... for political candidates and the electoral process itself, reaching voters has become much harder," independent candidate Malik Alauddin told AFP in the lead up to the vote, which had sent him on long journeys to remote towns in the mountainous region to reach voters.�" AFP