The provisional turnout in Kerala's recently concluded assembly elections stood at 79.63%, with service votes yet to be tallied, the state's chief electoral officer Rathan U Kelkar said on Monday.
Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar rejected any 'undue delay' in the release of the final turnout data, while underscoring that the EC had acted at the maximum possible speed in collating and publishing the data.
He stated that 78.27% of eligible voters in Kerala came at polling booths to cast their votes on the EVMs. An additional 1.36% of votes through postal ballots were also received, taking the provisional turnout up to 79.63%.
However, 53,984 service votes are yet to be accounted for, he said, and the final turnout percentage will be revealed post-counting through the EC index cards.
Political parties, including the CPI(M) and the Congress, have criticized the delay in the release of the final voter turnout in the state, which is the state's best in nearly three decades.
