By TCN News,
Thiruvananthapuram: High turn-out has been recorded in the elections in Kerala, with 48.5% polling in the first six hours. Around 2.31 crore voters will elect their representatives to 13th state Assembly in 20,758 polling booths all over the state today.
The highest polling was recorded in Kannur district – 53.2%. Kasargod (51.6%), Alappuzha (51.1%), Ernakulam (50.6%) and Kozhikode (50.4%) are close behind. Thiruvananthapuram has the least poll percent with only 43.0% at 1 pm today. Other districts’ poll percentage is as follows: Wayanad – 49.2%, Malappuram – 47.0%, Palakkad – 49.9%, Thrissur – 49.3%, Idukki – 47.6%, Kottayam – 49.2%, Pathanamthitta – 45.7% and Kollam – 46.7%.
The polling began at 7 am. Some voters who didn’t have the slip could not vote in some places. There have also been instances of the electronic voting machines not working properly in some places.
A total of 971 candidates, including a mere 78 women, are contesting to the 140 seats in the 14 districts. The most number of candidates are in Poonjar – 13. The voters consist of 1.2 crore women and 1.1 crore men. And for the first time in history, expatriates also can vote in this election. There are 8862 expatriate voters. There are around 1.25 lakh people working on the election duty.
This election campaign saw the occurrence of some violent acts, unlike the earlier times. Some incidents of violence were reported on the final day of public campaigning. However, the Election Commission has listed 3703 polling booths as problematic, and the goings-on in 93 of them will be webcast. Close observation will be carried out in the other booths. Out of the 40 company of the Central forces in the state, 10 are in Kannur district.
Kerala is used to elect the UDF and the LDF in alternate elections to the Assembly for around two decades. The LDF seeks a change in that trend and to vote it again to power for the continuation of the development works. Whereas, the UDF seeks a chance arguing the LDF has brought the state down in the matter of development.