KOCHI: Postal vote was a big topic of discussion this election after there were complaints from various quarters that Kerala Police Association (KPA) has rigged postal votes of police personnel in favour of LDF candidates. Of the valid 73,575 postal votes cast this election, LDF secured 32,051 votes while UDF won 24,704 votes, NDA 15,465 votes and others 1,354 votes.
It was in Kollam constituency that the maximum number of postal votes was cast (6,835) followed by Mavelikkara (6,746), Thiruvananthapuram (6,445), Alappuzha (6,206) and Kannur (5,917).
Surprisingly, the Election Commission also declared 11,952 postal votes across the state as invalid citing various errors and faults in the forms submitted by the voters. The highest number of invalid votes was in Alappuzha (1,384) followed by Mavelikkara (1,325), Attingal (1,160) and Thiruvananthapuram (1,088).
The LDF got maximum postal votes of 3,329 in Kollam while it was 2,967 votes in Alappuzha, 2,900 votes in Kannur and 2,780 votes in Mavelikkara. As far as NDA is concerned, maximum postal votes were in Thiruvananthapuram (2,217) followed by Pathanamthitta (1,769), Attingal (1,579) and Alappuzha (1,451).
“Many postal votes were declared invalid as they did not have a proper signature of the gazetted officer approving the validity of the vote. All postal votes were thoroughly verified for discrepancies,” said Additional Chief Electoral Officer B Surendran Pillai.