Srinagar, April 21 (IANS) The third phase of the 16-phased panchayat polls started in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday morning.

Five blocks in the Kashmir Valley and five in the Jammu region are going to elect their representatives for the village bodies in this phase.

As bright sunshine greeted the valley after incessant rains during the past five days, voters -- both men and women -- came out in large numbers to have their say in the democratic process at the grassroots level. The panchayat polls are being held after a decade.

Voting started at 8 a.m. and would end at 2 p.m.

Long queues of voters were seen in Wayil village of North Kashmir's Ganderbal district where there is a keen contest for the sarpanch's post.

Votes would be counted at the polling stations in the presence of the contestants and results declared Thursday itself.

No electronic voting machines are being used for the panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir. Instead paper ballots are used for the election.