Nearly 50 percent Keralites vote till 1 pm

Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly 50 per cent voter turnout was witnessed till 1 pm on Thursday as voting in all 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala is underway. People started arriving early in the morning at the 30,495 polling stations in the state to avoid the hot weather that was likely to get worse as the day progressed.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) cast his vote at RC Amala Basic Upper Primary School in Kannur. Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, VD Satheesan, arrived early for voting with his wife and daughter at their polling booth in Paravoor constituency.

Similarly, BJP’s Vattiyoorkavu Assembly candidate R Sreelekha and Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism Suresh Gopi also showed up early for voting. Polling was carried out amidst tight security arrangements, which included the deployment of over 76,000 security personnel and live monitoring of the election process by an extensive webcasting system.

Along with Kerala, Assembly Elections are also taking place in Assam and Puducherry today. West Bengal and Tamil Nadu will go to the polls later this month.

Over 2.7 crore registered voters will decide the fate of 883 candidates from various political parties in 140 constituencies today. As per the Election Commission data, out of the 2,125 nominations received, 883 candidates remain in the fray after the scrutiny process. The counting of votes and declaration of results is scheduled for May 4, 2026.

Voting begins at 7 AM and ends at 6 PM. If a voter reaches the polling station before closing time and is in the queue, he or she will still be allowed to vote.

The Election Commission of India has set up over 30,471 polling stations across Kerala. According to Kerala Chief Electoral Officer, Rathan U Kelkar, 1.46 lakh trained polling personnel have been dispatched to all the polling stations.

The almost month-long campaigning by political parties came to a close at 6 PM on April 7, and the state entered the mandatory 48-hour silence period ahead of polling for the 140-seat State Assembly.

In the 2021 Assembly election, the LDF created a record as it retained the southern state, which has, over the decades, seen power alternating between the coalitions led by CPI(M) and Congress. LDF won 99 of 140 seats while UDF won 41 seats. The BJP‑led NDA lost its only seat (Nemom) in 2021 and has had no MLA in this Assembly term.

The counting of votes and declaration of results is scheduled for May 4, 2026.