Kerala Assembly Election 2026 Live Updates: More than a third of the votes cast; polling percentage crosses 41 percent in first 5 hours

Kerala Assembly Election Voting Live Updates: Kerala goes to the polls today to elect 140 MLAs for the 16th Assembly. 883 candidates are in the fray. There are 2,71,96,936 voters, including 53,984 service voters. Voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm.

The distribution of polling materials to 30,495 polling booths in 140 constituencies was completed by Wednesday evening. Of these, 24 are ancillary booths. There are 2040 problem-prone booths. 160 companies of the Central Army are responsible for the security of the problem-prone booths. 76,000 people, including police and special police, have been deployed for security.

1.46 lakh officials are in charge of the election. The distribution of polling materials took place at 43 centers. The Election Commission has clarified that voters will not have to queue for long this time as the number of booths has been increased by more than 5,000 compared to the last Lok Sabha elections to meet the requirement of a maximum of 1,200 voters per booth.

Liquor is banned in the state till 6 pm on April 9, when the voting ends. Strict checks were carried out at Kerala's border check posts including yesterday. District administrations have issued orders to close firecracker shops in four northern districts. The shops are not to open till April 10.

Along with Kerala, Assam and Puducherry are going to the polling booth today. 722 candidates are seeking votes for 126 seats in Assam. The main fight is between the BJP and the Congress.

Voting will be held for 30 constituencies in Puducherry. There are 294 candidates in the fray. Puducherry is the place where there is a direct fight between the NDA and the INDI alliance.