The election in Kashmir is seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial 2019 decision to revoke the region’s semi-autonomous status.

Votes were being counted on Tuesday to decide the makeup of the now largely powerless local government in the India-controlled region of Kashmir for the first time in a decade, and the first time since the Muslim-majority lost its semi-autonomy in 2019.

Almost 9 million people were eligible to vote, with ballots being cast between September 18 and October 1. Official data said that turnout was at 64%.

Kashmir is a contested territory, with both India and Pakistan laying claim to it. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist government split the former state into two centrally-governed provinces, Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir.