Assembly Elections 2026 : Steady Voter Turnout Marks Opening Hours Of Polls In Three Regions

Voting for the Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry began on Thursday morning, with all three regions recording steady voter participation within the first two hours of polling.

According to Election Commission data, Assam recorded a voter turnout of 17.87 per cent till 9 a.m., while Kerala registered 16.23 per cent and Puducherry 17.41 per cent. In Kerala, Ernakulam emerged as the district with the highest early turnout at 17.8 per cent.

The two states and the union territory have consistently shown strong participation in the last two Assembly election cycles — 2016 and 2021. 

In Assam, which has traditionally witnessed robust electoral participation, voter turnout stood at 84.72 per cent in 2016, before dipping to 82.42 per cent in 2021, a decline of 2.3 percentage points.

The 2021 election, held in three phases during the Covid-19 pandemic, still saw strong mobilisation across regions, particularly in lower and central Assam.

The regional trend in the last election showed turnout increasing as polling moved westward. Phase 1, covering Upper Assam and the tea garden belt, recorded 79.93 per cent turnout.

Phase 2, spanning central Assam, the Barak Valley and Bodo areas, saw 82.04 per cent, while Phase 3, which included lower Assam and the Guwahati region, registered 82.28 per cent.

Kerala, long known for high political awareness and strong voter participation, recorded 77.35 per cent turnout in 2016, which moderated to 76 per cent in 2021. 

The northern Malabar belt, including Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kannur, has traditionally reported some of the highest turnout figures, driven by highly organised political networks and cadre-based mobilisation. In contrast, urban centres in the south, such as Thiruvananthapuram, have generally seen slightly lower participation compared with rural constituencies. 

In Puducherry, polling too opened to a steady response, with 17.41 per cent turnout recorded by 9 a.m. The Union Territory had posted 84.11 per cent turnout in 2016 and 81.69 per cent in 2021. 

The regional split in Puducherry’s last Assembly election was particularly sharp. Yanam recorded the highest turnout at 91.27 per cent, followed by Puducherry district at 82.01 per cent and Karaikal at 80.07 per cent, while Mahé lagged at 73.53 per cent.

The gender composition of the electorate also remains significant in all three poll-bound regions in 2021. 

In Assam, women account for 1.15 crore of the 2.34 crore electorate, making up nearly 49.3 per cent, closely trailing male voters at 1.18 crore. Kerala’s electorate stands at approximately 2.7 crore, with women historically matching or exceeding male turnout in several districts. In Puducherry, women outnumber men on the electoral rolls, accounting for 5.03 lakh of the 9.5 lakh voters, compared with 4.46 lakh men.