Panaji, Aug 11 (IANS): The elections for 186 panchayats in Goa recorded a turnout of 78.70 per cent, officials said on Wednesday.

The counting will be held on August 12.

Ward No 9 from Calangute village will go for fresh polls on Thursday, as authorities were forced to declare the voting void, allegedly due to some technical reasons.

Addressing a press conference, Goa State Election Commission Secretary Brijesh Manerikar said 78.70 per cent voting had been recorded, when the voting process ended at 5 p.m.

"The election process was peaceful. No untoward incident was reported. In spite of heavyA ain, voters exercised their right (to franchise)," he said.

A total of 5,038 candidates were in fray from 1,464 wards. While the 186 panchayats have a total of 1,528 wards, 64 candidates have won unopposed.

Manerikar said that about 7,96,070 voters were eligible to cast votes, out of which 6,26,496 voters exercised their franchise.

"Male voters were 2,99,707, while female voters were 3,26,788 and one of third gender. In North (Goa district) the voting percentage was 81.45, while in the South, it was 76.13 per cent," he said.

He said that the highest voting of 89.30 per cent has been recorded in Sattari Taluka, while lowest was 68.33 percent in Salcete taluka.

The GSEC had reserved 21 seats (1.37 per cent) for Schedule Castes, 187 (12.32 per cent) for Schedule Tribes and 307 (20.1 per cent) for OBCs.