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Election officials taking the polling materials to their respective booths — a scene from Government Engineering college, Thrissur, on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: K.K. NAJEEB
Over 1.53 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots to elect representatives to hundreds of local self-government institutions.
The electoral process, which covers the northern belt of the State — Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod — commenced at 7 a.m. and is scheduled to continue till 6 p.m. Voters who are in the queue at the time of closing will be allowed to exercise their franchise.
This polling follows the first phase of voting held in the southern districts on December 9. The current round is a high-stakes affair, particularly for the major political fronts — the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — as they battle for control of local administration.
A total of 38,994 candidates are in the contest today, vying for seats across various tiers. As many as 604 local bodies are in the fray today, including 470 grama panchayats, 77 block panchayats, seven district panchayats, 47 municipalities and three corporations — Kozhikode, Kannur and Thrissur.
Security arrangements have been made stringent, with the State Election Commission designating over 2,000 booths as vulnerable or critical, particularly in Kannur and Malappuram districts.
Polling personnel, deployed across 18,274 stations, conducted mock votes on Electronic Voting Machines an hour before the start of polling to verify their readiness and ensure transparency in the process.
The counting of votes for both phases of the local body elections will be held on December 13.
Published – December 11, 2025 07:42 am IST
