THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid Covid concerns, nearly 65 lakh voters lined up across 11,225 polling booths in five districts to cast their votes in the first phase of local body poll on Tuesday.The voter turnout was around 73 per cent when polling came to a close at 6pm. While Alappuzha recorded the highest turnout of 77.23 per cent, Pathanamthitta had the lowest turnout of 69.76 per cent.Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, noted for its low voter turnout in local body polls, maintained the trend this time as well.
Only 59.73 per cent of voters had turned up in the city when polling closed at 6pm. In 2015, the voter turnout in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation was close to 63 per cent. Voting began at a brisk pace at 7am and climbed steadily with the five districts recording an average voter turnout of over 50 per cent by 2pm.
However, the pace of the voting slowed down after 3pm. Polling officials said Covid concerns could perhaps be the reason why huge surge of votes was seen in the forenoon.
“The voter turnout was around 50 per cent at around 2pm. However, only six to seven per cent more voters turned up in the afternoon,” said the presiding officer of a polling booth at RKD NSS Higher Secondary School at Sasthamangalam. Voters who tested Covid positive and were directed to undergo quarantine after 3pm on Monday were allowed to vote at the fag end of polling hours. The voters and polling officials wore PPE kits when the special voters cast their ballots. However, the numbers of such voters were very few in the five districts.
Two voters collapsed and died after voting in Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha. Minor law and order incidents were reported in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam. In Kattakkada in the state capital, CPM workers allegedly manhandled Congress booth agent. In Pathanapuram panchayat, a CPI candidate was allegedly attacked by DYFI workers after she questioned them for unnecessarily entering the polling booth.
In Alappuzha, the chief agent of a candidate at Palace Ward in Alappuzha municipality was expelled by the presiding officer following complaints by rival candidates. Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac skipped the media by arriving to vote earlier than the time announced.The voter turnout in Kollam Corporation dropped by around four per cent this time when compared to 2015. However, the average voter turnout in Kollam district dropped only by one per cent compared to the previous local body poll.
Polling went on smoothly in Idukki without any untoward incidents being reported from anywhere in the district. However, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts saw overall voter turnout dropping by around 5 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively.