Election 2026 highlights: Voting ends with high turnout in Assam, Kerala; CEC calls elections ‘historic’

• The polling for the Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry concluded at 6 pm Thursday, with high participation in both states and union territory.

• Assam, which recorded over 85.78% turnout, and Puducherry, with 89.87% turnout, surpassed their highest-ever poll-participation, the Election Commission said. Kerala too witnessed a higher turnout than the previos Assembly polls.

• In Assam, female participation (85.96%) was higher than male participation (84.80 per cent). Similarly for Kerala, the male poll participation was 75.01 per cent, while it was 80.86 per cent for women. In Pudcherry too, female voters had over 90% participation, in comparison to male voters (88.09%).

• Following the conclusion of polling, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar congratulated electors. “Assembly elections 2026 in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry are a historic testimony not only for India but for the entire democratic world,” he said.

• Thursday's polling was the first leg of the polls in four states and one UT. The elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, and in Tamil Nadu on April 23. Counting for all four states and one UT will be held on May 4.

Puducherry Election LIVE: Puducherry recorded a voter turnout of 89.87 per cent, according to EC figures.

Kerala Election LIVE: Kerala recorded a voter turnout of 78.24 per cent, according to EC figures.

Assam Election LIVE: Assam recorded a voter turnout of 85.66 per cent, according to Election Commission figures.

Assam Election LIVE: Polling was largely peaceful and turnout ranged from 68 to over 82 in the bypolls held on four assembly seats in Karnataka, Tripura and Nagaland on Thursday. Bypolls were held on Bagalkot and Davanagere South seats in Karnataka, Dharmanagar assembly constituency in North Tripura and Koridang seat in Mokokchung district of Nagaland on Thursday.

Assam Election LIVE: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday congratulated voters in Assam, Puducherry and Kerala as polling concluded.

“Assembly Elections 2026 in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry are a historic testimony not only for India but for the entire democratic World. On behalf of ECI, I congratulate each and every elector of Assam, Puducherry and Kerala for this historic achievement. Chunav ka Parv, Matdaata ka Garv,” the CEC said.

Kerala Election LIVE: The latest figures updated by the Election Commission of India show that the voter turnout in Kerala stands at 78.13%. The highest voter turnout was recorded in Chittur constituency at 84.63 per cent, and the lowest in Ranni at 68.99 per cent.

Kerala Election LIVE: A woman in Kerala's Thrissur was initially denied the right to vote Thursday due to an injured left index finger. Akshaya cast her vote at around 6.15 pm, having arrived at the booth near Kurkancheri at 1.30 pm, PTI news agency reported.

“The presiding officer insisted that I remove the bandage. But I have 15 stitches on my finger after it was injured four days ago when it got caught in the mixer-grinder jar, and it is impossible to remove the bandage. I showed her the medical certificates as well, but she was not satisfied,” PTI cited her as saying.

Puducherry Election LIVE: Voting for the 30 Assembly constituencies in Puducherryvconcluded at 6 pm on Thursday. People who arrived before the deadline were allowed to wait in queues and cast their votes even after 6 pm, officials said, according to PTI news agency.

According to initial estimates, the polling percentage has crossed 86 per cent, they said.

Assam Election LIVE: Polling ended in Assam at 5 pm on Thursday in all 126 assembly constituencies, officials said, according to PTI news agency. Dalgaon recorded the highest voting at 94.57 per cent till 5 pm, while the lowest turnout was in Amri at 70.40 per cent, they said.

Bypoll voting LIVE: The voter turnout in Karnataka's Bagalkot stood at 65.68 per cent till 5 pm, while it was 63.04 per cent in Davanagere South.

The bypolls were necessitated due to the demise of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South).

Bypoll voting LIVE: Polling for the byelection to Dharmanagar Assembly constituency in North Tripura ended at 5 pm on Thursday, PTI news agency reported. Around 79.84 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm, according to EC figures.

Kerala Election LIVE: Polling for the 140 Assembly seats in Kerala concluded at 6 pm on Thursday, with people still in queues outside many polling stations. Those present at polling stations were given tokens will be allowed to vote, PTI news agency reported.

Kerala saw a voter turnout of 75.01 per cent till 5 pm, slightly higher than the polling during the last Assembly polls in 2021.

Kerala Election LIVE: Kerala saw a voter turnout of 75.01 per cent till 5 pm, according to EC figures. The highest turnout was recorded in Kunnathunad at 81.99 per cent.

Puducherry Election LIVE: Puducherry registered a voter turnout of 86.92 per cent till 5 pm, according to EC figures. The highest turnout was recorded in Oussudu Assembly constituency at 92.04 per cent.

Assam Election LIVE: Assam recorded a voter turnout of 84.42 per cent till 5 pm, according to EC figures. The highest voter turnout was recorded in Dalgaon at 94.57 per cent.

Assam Election LIVE: Polling officials sealed the EVMs and VVPATs as voting concluded for the Assam Assembly elections in Kamrup.

“The voting concluded peacefully...I thank the Election Commission of India for conducting the elections peacefully,” ANI cited a presiding officer as saying.

Assam Election LIVE: An FIR was lodged Thursday over a video shared on social media purportedly showing the voting process inside a polling station in Assam's Diphu constituency, PTI news agency reported citing officials.

The complaint was filed by Assam's Karbi Anglong district administration, and an inquiry initiated into the incident, officials said. Mobile phones are banned inside polling stations, with provisions made by Election Commission to deposit these and other items before entering.

Bypoll voting LIVE: Karnataka's Bagalkot witnessed a voter turnout of 54.82 per cent, and Davangere saw a turnout of 49.66 per cent as of 3 pm, according to EC figures.

Meanwhile, voter turnout in Nagaland's Koridang was 75.06 per cent, and was 70.09 per cent in Tripura's Dharmanagar till 3 pm.

Puducherry Election LIVE: Puducherry Congress unit chief and Assembly candidate from Thattanchavady V. Vaithilingam said the polling in the union territory had been “favourable…particularly Congress.”

“The DMK alliance is also performing well. We are confident that we will form the government on May 4,” Vaithilingam told ANI news agency.

Kerala Election LIVE: Kerala Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer cast his vote at Polling Booth No. 74 in Kannur.

Assam Election LIVE: Bodoland Territorial Council chief Hagrama Mohilary on Thursday cast his vote, and expressed confidence in an NDA victory in Assam Assembly elections.

“I cast my vote... I interacted with people from various communities, and they are all with us (NDA),” ANI news agency cited Mohilary as saying.

Puducherry Election LIVE: Groups of BJP and Congress workers clashed in a booth in Puducherry's Mannadipet Assembly Constituency during voting on Thursday.

According to sources cited by PTI news agency, a group of BJP workers were standing near a polling booth in Tirukanoor village, to which Congress workers objected, saying only voters could be present there. A heated argument followed, which led to clashes, and police intervened in the matter.

Assam Election LIVE: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma cast his vote for the Assembly elections on Thursday. Sarma was accompanied by his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma and their two children, Nandil and Sukanya.

They exercised their franchise at No. 15 Garal Buniyadi Lower Primary School. Sarma, the BJP candidate from Jalukbari, is seeking re-election from the seat for the third consecutive term. He has represented the seat since 2001.

Kerala Election LIVE: While voting in Kerala progressed peacefully on Thursday, incidents of minor protests were reported at several booth over allegations of bogus voting, PTI news agency reported.

In Thrissur district, a minor scuffle broke out between Congress and BJP activists in Manalur after UDF candidate T N Prathapan's arrival. BJP activists allegedly prevented people accompanying Prathapan from entering the booth premises, PTI cited the police as saying.

Meanwhile, in Thrissur's Wadakkanchery, a voter, identified as Sanjeev, was not able to cast his vote after the election officials informed him that his vote had already been recorded as a postal ballot, PTI reported. This led to protests by BJP activists, with BJP candidate T S Ullas Babu also staging a protest at the booth later.