Even as polling to the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala was supposed to conclude at 6 pm, long queues were witnessed at several booths, especially in north Kerala.
Polling in the state dragged close to midnight. At booth number 141 (Mudappilavil LP School) in Kuttiyadi, Vadakara, the last vote was cast at 11.43 pm.
At the time of reporting, 70.35% was the voter turnout in Kerala. However, the final figure is most likely to be higher due to the extended polling. It is understood that polling in 281 booths in Kozhikode went past 10 pm as voters turned up in numbers shortly before the closing time. Polling officials had issued a vast number of tokens to those who arrived at the booths before 6 pm.
As per the latest reports, Kannur recorded the highest turnout of 75.57% while Pathanamthitta had the lowest at 63.35%.
The final polling figure for the whole state is unlikely to surpass the turnout of 77.84% from the 2019 polls when eight of the 20 constituencies recorded more than 80% turnout.
Kerala logged 73.94% polling in 2014 and the current figure could be the lowest in General Elections in the state in two decades if it does not exceed 71.45%, which was the turnout in 2004.
In certain booths in Vadakara, where two sitting MLAs, UDF's Shafi Parambil and LDF's K K Shailaja, are contesting, polling went past 10 pm, mainly at booths in Orkatteri and Narikkuni.
In Thrissur, polling went till 9 pm in over 50 booths while there were about 300 voters in the queue after 6 pm at a booth in Kayamkulam.
At least 12 booths in Thiruvananthapuram witnessed polling till 7.30 pm. Pathanamthitta, Mavelikkara and Kollam also had a lag at a few booths.