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Voters in five districts in Kerala came in droves to exercise their franchise in the first phase of local body elections on Tuesday. As of 6 pm the turnout was 72.03 per cent at.
Electors who tested positive or were quarantined after 3 pm on Monday were permitted to exercise their franchise after all others have cast their votes by 6 pm. But this was subject to strict protocols specially mandated by the State Election Commission, involving wearing of PPE kits by the polling officials.
Alappuzha leads
Of the five districts where elections were held, Alappuzha led the chart with a turnout of 76.42 per cent till 6 pm; followed by Idukki at 73.99 per cent; Kollam at 72.79 per cent; Pathanamthitta at 69.33 per cent; and Thiruvananthapuram at 69.24 per cent, according to the State Election Commission figures.
Among the two city corporations, Thiruvananthapuram managed to poll 59.02 per cent while Kollam lagged behind at 65.11 per cent. Final voting figures would be available after polling in all booths are over, which might take longer into the night. Of the 3,281 polling booths in Thiruvananthauram district, formalities had been completed in 1,515 by 6 pm.
Long queues from the morning
Covid-19 concerns notwithstanding, polling started on a brisk note at 7 am, with voters queuing up in long lines at a number of places, especially in the rural areas.
Districts that went to polls on Tuesday were Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki in the southern and central parts of the state. The State had been spared from the Bharat bandh declared by farmers and allied organisations on Tuesday.
Polls were held to 6,910 wards of the 395 local bodies in the five districts involving 88.26 lakh electors including 46.68 lakh women, 41.58 lakh men. The electoral rolls also included 42,530 new voters and 150 NRIs. In all, 24,583 candidates are in the fray covering 11,225 polling stations of which 1,697 were in urban areas and 9,528 in rural areas.
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