Voting in Kollam constituency for the 16th Lok Sabha election registered a healthy 72.1 per cent but lower than the state average of 75 per cent, according to provisional figures provided by the district electoral officer. Of the total of more than 19 lakh voters it is still a better voting percentage compared to most of the neighbouring Parliamentary constituencies such as Thiruvananthapuram (68.6 per cent), Attingal (68.8 per cent), Mavelikkara (70.9 per cent), Pathanamthitta (65.9 per cent lowest in Kerala).
Only 78.8 per cent polled in Alappuzha constituency surpassed the voting percentage of Kollam constituency. Kollam constituency has also surpassed the voting percentage of the 15th Lok Sabha election which was 67.78 per cent.
The voting which started at 7 am saw fewer voters but the numbers picked up by noon. The Coastal Public Library booth in Vadi beach wore a deserted look with only a couple of voters when the voting started.
Fishermen living nearby were seen doing business as usual. A Striking Force unit was placed outside the booth to check any untoward incident. At 10 am, the polling in the district was 20.3 per cent with Eravipuram registering the highest percentage at 23.3 per cent and Kottarakkara and Kundara voting 19.4 per cent. By noon, the Kollam constituency had a total voting percentage of 44.7 and it reached 71.74 per cent by 5 pm while the entire district had 71.9 per cent voting. In Neendakara, another coastal area, many booths registered a poll of 55 to 62 per cent by evening and there were long queues seen in some of the booths.
The rain with thunderbolt at 5.30 pm played spoil sport for those who were planning to cast their votes before the deadline. In high range areas such as Punalur, Edamon and Thenmala, voters turned up in large numbers from the morning itself.
Another interesting fact about these booths were the participation of more women than men. Voting mostly went peaceful and apart from minor complaints regarding poll conduct, no serious incidents of violence were reported in any of the 1,785 booths in the district.
In Punalur Govt HSS, the polling officers were seen going to nearby booths to cast their votes as they belong to Mavelikkara electoral constituency. Those belonging to the same constituency used Election Duty Certificates to cast votes in the same polling booths. The Kollam parliamentary constituency has 1,119 booths. When the entire district is considered, some booths are in Mavelikkara and Alappuzha constituencies.