Tamil Nadu's government changed hands again, with the incoming party falling short of a majority on its own.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won 96 of the 234 seats on offer.

Its nearest rival, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, actually won a bigger vote share — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate — despite finishing behind in seats: 32.6% against the winner's 26.5%.

The outgoing party's own support suffered a collapse, falling to a fraction of what it had carried into office at the previous election.

The DMK itself won only 41.0% of the seats, and needed its Democratic Progressive Alliance allies — a group of parties that team up to fight an election together and share power afterward — to reach 163 seats overall.

A few numbers from that election stand out.

The tightest finish of the night was at Singanallur, Tamil Nadu, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 14 votes.

About 70.8% of registered voters turned out to cast a ballot, the highest recorded in the state up to that point.

At the other extreme, Vilavancode, Tamil Nadu was won by a margin of 37.5% of the vote.

Thousand Lights, Tamil Nadu drew the most crowded ballot of the year, with 26 candidates standing.

By this point, Tamil Nadu's assembly elections had settled into a pattern of the two big Dravidian parties trading power back and forth.