Election officials here said that 1,252 candidates have filed nomination papers for the April 9 Assembly polls in the State when the deadline for submitting them ended at 3 p.m. on Monday.

In all, 2,117 forms have been filed, counting multiple forms submitted by some of the candidates.

As per a late-night update issued by Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U. Kelkar, 18 candidates have filed nominations in the Koduvally constituency and 17 each in Manjeswaram and Thiruvananthapuram constituencies.

A final picture on candidates will emerge after the scrutiny of the nomination papers on Tuesday (March 24) and the March 26 deadline for the withdrawal of candidature.

There were 957 candidates in the fray in the 140 constituencies for the 2021 elections in Kerala.

Speaking at the release of ‘Vottarivu,’ an election booklet published by the Thiruvananthapuram unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Kerala CEO Rathan U. Kelkar sought the cooperation of voters to ensure the highest voter turnout in Kerala’s electoral history during the 2026 Assembly polls.

The aim is to cross the 85% voter turnout mark this time, he said.