Kerala elections: State records over 73% polling by 7 pm, says EC

At least 73.58 per cent

of the total 2.74 crore voters exercised their franchise for the state assembly elections according to a preliminary assessment when polling drew to a close at 7 pm in Kerala on Tuesday,the Election Commission of India said.

The massive exercise following COVID-19 health protocol involving over two lakh polling officers began at 7 AM and the last hour from 6 PM to 7 PM was set aside for COVID-19 patients and those under isolation.

The ECI said 73.69 per cent of male voters, 73.48 per cent of female voters and 37.37 per cent of transgender voters exercised their franchise as per the preliminary assessment till 6.55 PM.

The state witnessed massive turnout till afternoon but incessant rain in central Kerala reduced the footfall later.

Polling was held for 140 assembly constituencies of Kerala across 40,771 polling stations in the state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (Dharmadam), leader of opposition in the state assembly Ramesh Chennithala (Haripad), senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy (Puthupally), BJP state president, K Surendran (Konni and Manjeswaram) and 'Metro Man' E Sreedharan, (Palakkad) were among those who had voted.

Besides Vijayan, 11 of his cabinet colleagues are among the 957 candidates in the fray.

The 2016 Assembly elections saw 77.53 per cent voter turnout, while the Lok Sabha polls in 2019 saw a participation of77.84 per cent electors.

Local body polls in 2020 saw a voter turnout of76.2 per cent.