The state began voting at 7 am to decide the fate of 194 contestants in the fray for the Lok Sabha elections.
Kerala saw a voter turnout of 77.84 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Photo: ManoramaOf the 2,77,49,159 voters in Kerala, 1,43,33,499 are women while there are more than 5 lakh first-time voters.
Alappuzha MP AM Ariff waits at polling booth to vote.
Read: A peek at Kerala's 20 constituencies and major candidatesPeople queue up to vote in front of polling booth at Chelannur High School, Kozhikode.
Thiruvananthapuram: Voter turnout in Kerala witnessed a spike past 5 pm as a large number of voters turned up close to the closing time of 6 pm. Polling officials issued tokens to those who were in the line and voting went past 10 pm at several booths, especially in north Kerala.
The state began voting at 7 am to decide the fate of 194 contestants in the fray for the Lok Sabha elections. Voting commenced after mock polls were held in the presence of representatives of political parties.
Barring sporadic instances of bogus voting and breakdowns of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), resulting in delaying the polling process in the affected booths, the election has largely been incident-free. However, six people -- one booth agent and four voters -- died on the day. While four of them collapsed and died, one died of a heart attack and the other passed away in an accident. The deaths happened in Palakkad, Alappuzha, Malappuram and Kozhikode.
BJP candidate from Thrissur Suresh Gopi awaits to cast his vote. Photo: Manorama
Attingal, Kannur, Chalakudy, Palakkad, Wayanad, Alappuzha and Kasaragod constituencies are leading the percentage chart in terms of voter turnout, whereas Ponnani is the slowest. Kerala saw a voter turnout of 77.84 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden and wife after casting their votes on April 26, 2024. Photo: Manorama
Of the 2,77,49,159 voters in Kerala, 1,43,33,499 are women while there are more than 5 lakh first-time voters. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjay Kaul said in a statement: "To ensure a free and transparent election, a webcasting system has been put in place for live monitoring of all booths in eight districts, namely Kasaragod, Kannur, Wayanad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Palakkad, Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram. In the remaining six districts, 75 per cent of the booths will be monitored by this system."
Alappuzha MP AM Ariff waits at polling booth to vote. Photo: Manorama
The webcasting facility has been introduced to ensure transparent elections by preventing booth grabbing, distribution of money and fake voting, according to the statement. The visuals would be monitored live in the control rooms set up in the offices of the CEO and the Returning Officers of the 20 Lok Sabha seats, it said.
A total of 30,238 EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) have been readied. Besides, 63,100 bottles of ink, to mark the fingers of the voters to prevent fraudulent voting, will be used. Click here for a step-by-step guide on how to cast your vote.
LDF's Thiruvananthapuram candidate Panniyan Ravindran waits in queue at the Kannur Poozhathi Govt UP School booth to vote. Photo: Sameer A Hameed/Manorama
The 20 constituencies in Kerala are Thiruvananthapuram, Attingal, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Mavelikkara, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Chalakudy, Thrissur, Alathur, Palakkad, Ponnani, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Vadakara, Kozhikode and Kannur. Read: A peek at Kerala's 20 constituencies and major candidates
People queue up to vote in front of polling booth at Chelannur High School, Kozhikode. Photo: Manorama
Kottayam constituency boasts the highest number of candidates at 14, while Alathur has the fewest at five. Notably, there are 13 candidates in Kozhikode and 12 each in Kollam and Kannur. Of the total 194 candidates, 169 are men and 25 are women. The Vadakara constituency stands out with the highest number of female candidates, at four.
