THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Assembly constituencies that saw the steepest drop in voter numbers, mostly in Thiruvananthapuram district, after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls recorded a sharp surge in turnout, rising by 9 to 13 percentage points compared to the previous assembly election. This surge stands out against the state’s overall increase in voter turnout of a little over 4% compared to 2021.
In contrast, the five Malappuram seats that registered the highest addition of voters post SIR saw a modest rise in turnout, in the range of 3 to 9 percentage points. Region-wise, only northern Kerala bettered the state aggregate in voter turnout, while polling percentages in southern and central Kerala remained below the state average of 78.27%.
The Thiruvananthapuram assembly seat saw the highest drop in voter numbers post SIR, at 46,555. As many as 1.18 lakh (74.85%) of the 1.58 lakh voters turned up at polling booths on Thursday.
While this was lower than the 1.25 lakh electors who voted in 2021, the polling percentage rose by over 13% due to a shrunk overall electorate. Vattiyoorkavu, Nemom, Kazhakkoottam and Ernakulam constituencies also recorded increases in turnout, ranging between 9 and 12 percentage points compared to 2021.
At the other end, Tirur, which saw the highest increase of 21,505 voters after SIR, recorded a turnout rise of 3.78% vis-a-vis the previous assembly election. As many as 1.96 lakh of the 2.55 lakh electors voted in 2026, compared to 1.68 lakh of the 2.29 lakh electors in 2021. Notably, Vengara, which registered the second-highest increase in post-SIR voter numbers, saw turnout rise by around 10 percentage points.
“The overall increase in voter turnout statewide suggests the voters had something up their sleeve and could indicate strong anti-incumbency sentiment. The rise in polling percentages in northern Kerala districts may also point to minority consolidation in favour of the UDF,” said J Prabhash, political scientist and former pro vice-chancellor of Kerala University.
Region-wise, the five northern Kerala districts – Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Malappuram – recorded an aggregate voting rate of 76.05%, about 4 percentage points higher than in 2021.
Central Kerala districts – Ernakulam, Kottayam, Idukki, Thrissur and Palakkad – posted a turnout increase of 4.5%. Southern districts such as Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram also saw an average rise of a little over 4% compared to 2021.
District-wise, Kozhikode recorded the highest voter turnout in the state at 81.35%, a slight increase from 2021. Pathanamthitta registered the lowest turnout at 70.77% – around 7.5 percentage points below the state average – though it marked a 3.4% rise from its 2021 figure.
Other districts that fell below the state average included Thrissur, Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram.