Total voter turnout was 63.83 per cent till 4 pm on Monday in the first phase voting for the local body elections in 11 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, Ramesh Kumar, district election officer said.

The boycott of urban local body polls by several political parties, including the People's Democratic Party and the National Conference, failed to dampen the spirit of voters in the Jammu and the Ladakh regions as they came out in large numbers to vote in the first phase of elections on Monday.

Long queues of enthusiastic voters were seen outside the polling stations in Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri districts of the Jammu region and Leh and Kargil in Ladakh -- the areas of the state which are almost militancy-free and have always ignored boycott calls given by separatists.

However, in the militancy-wracked Kashmir Valley, about six per cent of the electorate voted in the first six hours of polling in 83 wards, where elections are being held amid tight security, officials said Monday.

Voting for the first of the four-phased elections in the Valley began at 7 am and will end at 4 pm.

"Over 5,400 voters exercised their franchise till 1 pm at the 150 polling stations set up in the 83 wards across the Kashmir Valley where polling is going on today," an official said.

Adequate security arrangements have been made for peaceful conduct of elections across the state and officials said polling was going on smoothly.

There was no major poll-related violence reported from anywhere, they said.  -- ANI, PTI