Counting of votes in the five assembly constituencies in Kerala, where bypolls were held on October 21, will begin at 8am on Thursday.
The first counting trends will be available by 8.30 am. The results are expected to be out by noon.
Bypolls were held in Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram district, Konni in Pathanamthitta, Aroor in Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Manjeswaram in Kasaragod.
Counting centres
• One counting centre for each assembly constituency.
Manjeswaram: Paivalige Nagar Higher Secondary School
Ernakulam: Maharaja's College
Aroor: Cherthala Pallippuram NSS College
Konni: Eliyarakkal Amrutha Vocational Higher Secondary School
Vattiyoorkavu: St Mary's Higher Secondary School, Pattom
Counting procedure
• Postal votes will be counted first.
• 14 counting tables in each counting centre.
• Counting will be done in 12 rounds. Fourteen EVMs will be counted in each round.
• VVPAT slips from five booths in each constituency will be counted before announcing the results. These booths will be selected after draw of lots.
•Live counting trends will be available at www.trend.kerala.gov.in
Polling percentage
According to the Election Commission, 75.78% of votes were polled in Manjeswaram. Ernakulam polled 57.90%, Aroor 80.47%, Konni 70.07% and Vattiyoorkavu 62.66%.
Exit poll results
Manorama News Television-Karvy Insights exit poll predicted UDF win three seats and LDF in two. NDA will draw a blank, it predicted.
UDF will win in Manjeswaram, Ernakulam and Vattiyoorkavu and LDF will emerge victorious in Aroor and Konni.
Mathrubhumi News Television exit poll too predicted UDF win in three different seats and LDF victory in two. UDF will win Manjeswaram, Ernakulam and Konni while LDF will win Aroor and Vattiyoorkavu.
Crucial for political parties
The bypoll outcome is crucial for all the three leading political fronts in the state.
The result will be a referendum on the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front government, while the opposition United Democratic Front wants to prove that its stellar show in the recent Lok Sabha election – where it won 19 out of 20 seats - was no flash in the pan. Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance too wants to show its strength in Manjeswaram, Konni and Vattiyoorkavu.
