Karnataka Elections 2023 LIVE UPDATES: After the high-octane campaign, the stage is set for the battle of ballots in Karnataka as people of the state get ready to vote today to elect a new 224-member state assembly as 2,615 candidates in the fray. According to the Election Commission of India, the voting for the assembly elections started at 7 am and will culminate at 6 pm today. The majority mark to form the government is 113 seats. Polling is scheduled across 58,545 polling stations including auxiliary polling stations today. A total of 42,48,028 new voters have been registered to vote for the assembly elections. As many as 5.3 crore general voters are going to cast their vote today in 58,545 polling stations in 37,777 locations. Out of which 11,71,558 are young voters and 12,15,920 are 80+ senior citizen voters. There are also 5,71,281 PwD voters. Around 4,00,000 polling personnel are engaged in poll processes. The polling parties were provided with all the materials including EVM and VVPAT machines at the mustering centres in all the 224 Assembly Constituencies. The opinion polls showed there is a direct fight between Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in the southern state.