Kerala local body polls: Phase 2 concludes with 76.08% voter turnout; overall at 73.69%

Polling for the 2025 Kerala local body elections concluded on Thursday, with voters in the seven Phase 2 districts—Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod—casting their votes. The first phase was held on December 9 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam.

Turnout in Phase 2
Phase 2 recorded a voter turnout of 76.08%, with Wayanad topping the list at 78.3%, and Thrissur recording the lowest turnout at 72.46%.

Overall turnout (Phase 1 & Phase 2)
The combined turnout for the two phases stands at 73.69%, broken down as:
Male: 72.76%
Female: 74.51%
Transgender: 40.42%

District-wise turnout
Thiruvananthapuram: 67.47%
Kollam: 70.35%
Pathanamthitta: 66.78%
Alappuzha: 73.82%
Kottayam: 70.86%
Idukki: 71.78%
Ernakulam: 74.57%
Thrissur: 72.46%
Palakkad: 76.27%
Malappuram: 77.43%
Kozhikode: 77.26%
Wayanad: 78.3%
Kannur: 76.77%
Kasaragod: 74.86%

Phase-wise turnout
Phase 1
Total: 70.91%
Male: 71.61%
Female: 70.29%
Transgender: 41.27%

Phase 2
Total: 76.08%
Male: 73.74%
Female: 78.18%
Transgender: 39.75%

Turnout in corporations
Among the six municipal corporations, Thiruvananthapuram recorded the lowest turnout, while Kannur reported the highest.
Thiruvananthapuram: 58.29%
Kollam: 63.35%
Kochi: 62.44%
Thrissur: 62.45%
Kozhikode: 69.55%
Kannur: 70.33%

Highlights of Phase 2 polling day
Key issues dominating the narrative
The day’s political discourse was shaped by the Sabarimala gold scam, the Rahul Mamkootathil case, and allegations regarding the UDF’s links to Jamaat-e-Islami.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, after casting his vote at Dharmadom, expressed strong confidence in the LDF’s prospects. Meanwhile, KPCC president Sunny Joseph and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said voters were disenchanted by the government’s anti-development stance and controversies such as the Sabarimala gold scam.

Clashes and bogus vote complaints in Kozhikode
Several polling-related incidents were reported across Kozhikode district:
Pannikkode, Kodiyathur grama panchayat: Police shut down a CPM party office adjacent to a polling booth after a UDF complaint. This was followed by a confrontation between LDF and UDF workers, with the UDF alleging that LDF workers were distributing voter slips.

Kannadikkal, Kozhikode Corporation: A voter, Maya of Aramam, Paroppadi, found that her vote had already been cast by someone else at Booth No. 4 in Kannadikkal GLPS. Polling officials later issued her a ballot paper to cast her vote.

Kunnamangalam grama panchayat: Dilna C (Ward 14) was incorrectly marked as having voted when she arrived at Booth No. 2. She was allowed to cast a tender vote, but officials delayed her complaint for verification. Later, an audit of total votes revealed one vote missing, confirming that she had not voted earlier and that her name had been mistakenly marked due to a clerical error.

Rahul Mamkootathil casts vote after 16 days in hiding
Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, accused in two separate rape cases, appeared publicly after more than two weeks to cast his vote at Booth No. 2 in Kunnathurmedu, Palakkad. Police had been searching for him for 15 days after the Nemom police registered a case alleging rape, forced abortion, criminal intimidation, and misuse of private images. A second case—registered by the Crime Branch—was based on a 23-year-old woman’s complaint that he raped her after promising marriage. Rahul has anticipatory bail in the Crime Branch case and interim protection from arrest in the Nemom case.

Results on December 13
Counting of votes will begin at 8 am on December 13, with postal ballots opened first, followed by EVM votes. Real-time updates will be available through the TREND software. Once results are announced, newly elected members will be sworn in, followed by the election of chairpersons, vice-chairpersons and standing committees as per the commission’s schedule.

2020 Kerala local body elections
In the 2020 local body polls, voter participation was consistently high, with Kozhikode recording the highest turnout (81.28%), followed by Kannur (79.5%). Thrissur recorded the lowest that year.
The district-wise turnout in 2020:
Thrissur: 76.34%
Palakkad: 78.82%
Malappuram: 78.87%
Kozhikode: 81.28%
Wayanad: 79.46%
Kannur: 79.5%
Kasaragod: 77.3%