Published Sep 26, 2026 | 3:57 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 26, 2026 | 3:57 PM
Local body polls
Synopsis: Polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. A total of 126 candidates, including 64 men and 62 women, are in the fray across 12 districts, with Kollam and Alappuzha excluded.
Preparations have been completed for the by-elections to 38 local body wards across Keralam on Monday, September 28, State Election Commissioner N. Seshadrinathan said.
Polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A total of 126 candidates, including 64 men and 62 women, are in the fray across 12 districts, with Kollam and Alappuzha excluded.
Palakkad has the highest number of candidates, with 23 contestants in seven wards.
The constituencies include two corporation wards in Ernakulam and Kozhikode, three municipality wards in Thrissur, Palakkad and Kannur, three district panchayat wards in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam and Palakkad, seven block panchayat wards and 23 grama panchayat wards across 12 districts.
As many as 385 polling stations have been arranged. Training of polling personnel has been completed, while ballot papers have been printed and handed over to returning officers. Voting machines are also ready.
The bypolls will be held based on the revised voters’ list published on 19 August.
The final roll has 3,09,713 voters—1,64,241 women, 1,45,468 men and four transgender voters.
Voters can produce their Election Commission identity card, passport, driving licence, PAN card, Aadhaar, photograph-bearing SSLC book, a photo passbook issued by a nationalised bank or post office within the past six months, or the identity card of Central or State government employees.
Identity cards issued to State Election Commission employees, MLAs and MPs have also been approved as valid documents.
Special security arrangements and videography will be provided at sensitive polling stations.
Counting will begin at 10 a.m. on September 29, with results to be published on the State Election Commission website under the ‘TREND’ section.
Candidates have to submit their election expenditure accounts to the secretaries of the respective local self-government institutions by October 29.
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(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
