Reports coming in from various parts of these districts indicate that there were starting problems in a few booths as the electronic machines played truant.

The first phase of polling Saturday will involve 59 constituencies and the fate of political giants like Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and nine of his ministerial colleagues will be finally decided.

Alappuzha district will witness star leaders like former Chief minister A.K.Antony, federal minister for Overseas Indians Vayalar Ravi and leader of opposition V.S.Achuthanandan arriving to cast their votes.

Of the 59 seats, the Congress-led UDF won 45 in 2001, but this time the going does not appear that smooth for the UDF.

A total of 409 candidates are in the fray. An estimated 8.4 million voters, including 4.3 million women, are eligible to exercise their franchise. Kerala''s total electorate is 21.48 million.

Election Commission officials said the voting would take place in 8,292 polling booths, using 9,121 electronic voting machines.

One reason for concern among the UDF camp is that with heavy rains predicted in the afternoon, a fall in the voting percentage could well be the death knell for the UDF.

The first phase is crucial because over the years it has been noticed that whoever wins the most seats in the southern districts, especially in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, emerges the winner.

Chandy has made one final appeal to all his voters through a personal e-mail last night.