The Assembly elections on Wednesday were by and large peaceful in the district, with the constituencies of Aranmula, Adoor, Konni, Ranni and Thiruvalla.
The official data made available at 7.45 p.m. put the provisional average polling percentage at 68.1.
However, the percentage is most likely to go up as the figures from various booths in the remote areas of Konni, Ranni, Avanippara and Gavi will reach the election offices only late in the night.
The available official figures show that the Konni constituency had the highest polling percentage of 71.3 in the district. Thiruvalla with 63.5 per cent had the lowest, official sources said. Aranmula recorded 67.2, Adoor 70.4 and Ranni 68.2.
Barring stray incidents of altercations and snags in the electronic voting machines, the polling process was by and large smooth and peaceful.
The ballot boxes from the remote forest areas of Gavi, Pampa Valley and Avanippara, among others, are expected to reach the district headquarters by 11 p.m. The polling was extended in certain places owing to the long queue of voters.
Returning Officer P. Salim had to intervene when a polling agent of the United Democratic Front (UDF) was allegedly manhandled by an “unauthorised” polling agent of the Left Democratic Front inside the polling station at Ranni MS High School (booth no. 118) in the afternoon.
The Returning Officer, who reached the school, shifted the presiding officer on the basis of a complaint by UDF candidate Peelipose Thomas later.
In another minor incident, an LDF worker was allegedly assaulted near the polling booth at the Government Lower Primary School at Kadakkad, near Pandalam, and the police had to chase away a group of people assembled there later.
