Kerala SEC completes arrangements for September 28 ward bypolls
The Kerala State Election Commission says preparations are complete for by-elections in 38 local body wards across 12 districts. Polling will run from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with 126 candidates contesting and counting scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. on September 29.
Arrangements have been completed for by-elections to 38 local body wards in Kerala on September 28, State Election Commissioner N. Seshadrinathan said on Saturday. Polling will take place from 7 a.m.
to 6 p.m. The contests cover two Corporation wards, three municipality wards, three district panchayat wards, seven block panchayat wards and 23 grama panchayat wards across 12 districts. The Corporation seats are Ayyappankavu in Kochi and Kuttichira in Kozhikode.
A total of 126 candidates are in the race, comprising 62 women and 64 men. The Commission has set up 385 polling stations for the election. The final electoral roll, updated and published on August 19, contains 3,09,713 voters.
It includes 1,64,241 women, 1,45,468 men and four transgender voters. Counting of the votes will begin at 10 p.m. on September 29.
The bypolls are being closely watched because they are the first elections to local body wards since the Congress-led United Democratic Front government came to power in Kerala in May. The State Election Commission did not provide a forecast of the likely outcome. The source material also did not state the reasons for the vacancies in the 38 wards or identify the candidates and parties contesting each seat.
The election authority said the arrangements had been made for the smooth conduct of polling. Voters will cast ballots using the electoral list published in August.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.