LS polling in Kerala: Voting turnout reaches 52.25% at 3.20 pm

Thiruvananthapuram: With less than three hours remaining for the conclusion of polling in the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the state registered a turnout of 52.25 per cent at 3.20 pm on Friday.

As the day progressed, people continued to queue up in increasing numbers outside the over 25,000 polling booths in the state, braving the rising temperatures, to cast their vote.

At 3.20 pm, the highest turnout was registered in the northern Kerala Lok Sabha constituency of Kannur at 54.96 per cent with Alappuzha a close second at 54.78 per cent.

The election process, held amidst tight security arrangements, was primarily incident free except for instances of bogus voting and breakdowns of electronic voting machines (EVMs) being reported in some booths of the state. Such incidents resulted in delaying the polling process in the affected booths.

Congress leader Anto Antony, who is contesting from Pathanamthitta LS seat, and his party colleague Chandy Oommen, expressed dissatisfaction over such incidents and the resultant delays, leading to several voters returning to their homes. Both of them said that they have asked officials to extend the voting time in the affected booths.

The voter turnout was 12.26 per cent at 9.20 am and rose to 16 per cent and then 19.06 per cent at 10 am and 10.20 am, respectively. Later, it increased to 26.26 per cent at 11.20 am and 31.06 per cent at 12 noon. At 1.20 pm the turnout was registered at 40.21 per cent and at 2.20 pm it was 46.02 per cent.

Several persons and a polling agent reportedly died due to various reasons during the polling in the state.

According to reports, one person each died at Palakkad, Alappuzha and Malappuram after casting their vote and a polling agent died after collapsing at a booth in Kozhikode.

Kerala saw a voter turnout of 77.84 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Voting commenced in all 20 Lok Sabha seats of the state at 7 am today.