As many as 8.23 lakh out of the 12.54 lakh voters in the Kottayam Lok Sabha constituency exercised their franchise in the election held to the 18th Lok Sabha on Friday.
The revised figures released by the Election Commission put the polling percentage at 65.61.
Among the 6.07 lakh male voters, 4.18 lakh (68.85%) cast their votes, while 4.04 lakh out of 6.47 lakh female voters (62.56%) participated in the process. Six out of 15 transgender voters (40%) cast their votes. Leading in polling, the Vaikom Assembly constituency recorded a turnout of 71.69%, while the lowest turnout was in the Kaduthuruthy Assembly constituency at 62.27%.
These figures, however, exclude postal and service votes. A total of 11,658 individuals voted at home through absentee voting, a service provided for those over 85 years old and differently-abled persons.
Of the 12,082 applications for home voting, 8,982 individuals over the age of 85 and 2,676 people with disabilities were accepted. Additionally, 307 people from essential services cast their votes, with 575 Form 12D applications accepted for this category. Moreover, 656 polling staff from the Kottayam Lok Sabha constituency who applied through Form 12 voted by postal ballot, while 2,227 officials working for the election in Kottayam district, but with votes in other Lok Sabha constituencies, also cast their votes through postal ballot.
In the Vaikom Assembly segment, polling stations reported varying turnouts. Polling station number 50 at Akkarapadam Government Upper Primary School recorded the highest turnout at 84.93%, with 699 out of 823 registered voters participating. Conversely, polling station 26 at Velloor KNRC had the lowest turnout at 42.19%, with only 127 out of 301 registered voters participating.
Meanwhile, electronic voting machines have been sealed and moved to the strong rooms of Kottayam Government College at Nattakom.
