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The Hindu
The Hindu
National
The Hindu Bureau

Lok Sabha polls Phase 2 | Polling begins in 20 seats in Kerala; 194 candidates in fray

Polling in all the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala for the 2024 general election commenced at 7 a.m. on April 26. People started arriving early in the morning at the over 25,000 polling booths in the State to avoid the hot weather that was likely as the day progressed.

The mock poll, meant to establish the operational efficiency of the electronic voting machines one last time, began at 6 a.m. in the presence of representatives of political parties. The State’s 2.77 crore-strong electors will begin casting their votes at 7 a.m. in 20 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Kerala Lok Sabha Polls 2024 Live

In all, 194 candidates in the fray this time. Polling across 25,231 booths will conclude at 6 p.m. Tight security arrangements are also in place to ensure incident-free polling with 742 booth termed vulnerable and 1161 as critical.

All booths in eight of Kerala’s 14 districts have been placed under webcasting for added surveillance. 66,303 security personnel, including personnel attached to 62 companies of central forces, have been deployed as part of the arrangements.

Kerala had recorded a turnout of 77.67% in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The State has 2,77,49,159 eligible voters. This includes 1,43,33,499 women, 1,34,15,293 men, and 367 transgender voters. As many as 5,34,394 voters are first-time voters in the 18-19 age group.

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