Kerala recorded a turnout of 70.35% in the Lok Sabha elections held on Friday, as per an 8.15 p.m. update issued by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala).
The voting percentage is likely to change once the final figures are in, poll officials said. The available data indicate that Friday’s turnout is lower than that of the 2014 (74.02%) and 2019 (77.67%) Lok Sabha polls.
The polling percentage is lower among the southern constituencies compared to those in the north of Kerala. Twelve constituencies, including 11 in the north, recorded a turnout above 70%.
Among the southern constituencies, only Alappuzha crossed the 70% mark. Kannur recorded the highest turnout at 75.74% and Pathanamthitta, the lowest at 63.35%.
A little over 1.95 crore of the State’s 2.77 crore-strong electorate exercised their franchise on Friday. This includes 70.90% of the female voters (1.01 crore), 69.76% of the male voters (93.59 lakh) and 38.96% of the transgender voters (143).
Polling in the State’s 20 constituencies began at 7 a.m. After voting formally ended at 6 p.m., it continued late into the night in some booths where voters were still in queue.
Voting was largely generally peaceful and free of untoward incidents barring a few complaints related to malfunctioning equipment and alleged vote fraud.
Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Sanjay Kaul said the polling was peaceful. Technical glitches in the equipment and complaints were promptly addressed, he said.
Although polling had kicked off on a brisk note, the pace slackened towards noon with the build-up of the summer heat. Kerala crossed the 50% mark by 3 p.m. At 6 p.m., 67.27% of the 2.77 crore-strong electorate had exercised their franchise.
Mr. Kaul said that the electronic voting machines would be shifted to strong rooms in 20 centres and kept under guard till the counting of votes on June 4.
Constituency-wise polling
Thiruvananthapuram (66.43), Attingal (69.40), Kollam (67.92), Pathanamthitta (63.35), Mavelikkara (65.88), Alappuzha (74.37), Kottayam (65.59), Idukki (66.39), Ernakulam (68.10), Chalakudy (71.68), Thrissur (72.11), Palakkad (72.68), Alathur (72.66), Ponnani (67.93), Malappuram (71.68), Kozhikode (73.34), Wayanad (72.85), Vadakara (73.36), Kannur (75.74), and Kasaragod (74.28).
