THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first phase of local body elections is progressing in five districts. A long queue of voters is being witnessed in many of the booths. Voters are in queue by maintaining social distance.

Voting machines suffered technical snag in Alappuzha. The same happened in the voting machine at Pettah in Thiruvananthapuram. Polling was disrupted at Kollam Thazhava Kuthirappanthi LPS booth number one due to a faulty voting machine.

Ministers Kadakampally Surendran and Mercykutty Amma, Sabarinathan MLA, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and MPs Suresh Gopi and N K Premachandran cast their votes. Voting is taking place in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha and Idukki today. In the first phase, 24,584 candidates are contesting.