The Kollam Lok Sabha constituency recorded a voter turnout of 67.97 %, around 5% percentage points less than the overall voting in 2019.
While the Chavara, Kundara and Kollam Assembly segments had crossed the 75% mark during the last polls, this year none of the seven segments recorded more than 70% polling.
Also read: Kerala Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE Updates
There was brisk polling in the early hours of the day with the constituency witnessing a 12.27% turnout till 9 a.m. The turnout till 8 a.m. was 5.9% which included 6.56% men voters and 5.37 % women voters.
The polling exercise started at 7 a.m. amidst tight security measures in all 1,951 polling stations in the district, including 88 critical stations.
At some polling stations like Kundara, voters, including senior citizens, turned up for voting as early as 6 a.m. At some other polling stations, voters reached by 8 a.m. to avoid rush and scorching sun later in the day. The district administration had issued an alert as the maximum temperature in the district is likely to rise to 39°Celsius (2 to 4 degrees above normal) till April 29.
The polling percentage of Kollam stood at 30.45 percentage by 12 noon and the total votes polled in the constituency was 4,03,997.
An incident of bogus voting was reported from Chavara following which LDF workers filed a complaint against a Congress booth agent. Asha, a voter who came to cast her vote at booth number 118 at Puthanthura, found that some other person had already voted against her name. She was later allowed to cast a tender vote and LDF workers said they have contacted the RDO and complaint will be filed before higher authorities. The final voter turnout at various constituencies is as follows: Chavara (69.03), Punalur ( 65.32), Chadayamangalam (68.69), Kundara (69.31), Kollam (68.62), Eravipuram (67.88) and Chathannur (67.08).
