Malappuram district had brisk voting in the Kerala civic body elections on Thursday. Polling began at 7 a.m. with great enthusiasm. By 1 p.m., 18.31 lakh voters, or 50.61% of the 36.18 lakh registered, had cast their ballots. The district includes 602 expatriate voters and 51 transgender voters. Female voters total 18.78 lakh, while male voters number 17.40 lakh. Out of all voters, 29.91 lakh are in panchayats and 6.27 lakh are in municipalities. Among the 15 blocks, Malappuram, Areekode, and Mankada had over 40% turnout within five hours. Malappuram block led with 41.31% polling by midday. Perumpadappu block recorded the lowest at 35.43%. Among the 12 municipalities, Manjeri led with 49.97% voter turnout at midday. Ponnani was the lowest with 37.38%. Manjeri also has the largest voter base of 82,902 voters. Voters formed long lines at polling stations, eager to vote for their representatives in municipalities or the three-tier panchayats. Elections were held across 122 civic bodies, including 94 grama panchayats, 12 municipalities, and 15 block panchayats. The district has 2,789 wards: 2,001 in grama panchayats, 505 in municipalities, 250 in block panchayats, and 33 in district panchayats. A total of 8,381 candidates vied for these wards: 6,002 in panchayats, 819 in block panchayats, 1,434 in municipalities, and 126 in district panchayats. There were 4,343 polling stations, with 3,777 in panchayats and 566 in municipalities. Polling at 295 booths was webcast live. Of these, 277 were sensitive and 18 hyper-sensitive. About 20,848 election officials served, including 3,476 in reserve. Voters used 5,899 control units and 16,172 ballot units in Malappuram.