Kerala local body polls: Phase 2 voting begins in 7 districts

By FnF Correspondent | PUBLISHED: 11, Dec 2025, 10:30 am IST | UPDATED: 11, Dec 2025, 10:30 am IST

The second phase of polling for Kerala’s local body elections will take place across seven districts on Thursday. Polling will run from 7 am to 6 pm.

Candidates conducted silent door to door campaigning on Wednesday as they made their final appeal to voters. In this phase, more than 1.53 crore voters will choose representatives for 12,931 wards in 604 local bodies, including grama panchayats, block panchayats, district panchayats, municipalities and corporations.

A total of 38,994 candidates are contesting. The phase 1 polling recorded a voter turnout of 70 per cent.

The State Election Commission said 18,274 polling stations have been arranged for the second phase, and 2,055 of them have been identified as sensitive.

Kannur district has the highest number of sensitive booths with 1,025, while Thrissur has the lowest with 81.

The commission added that extensive security measures are in place, including additional police deployment and webcasting facilities at all sensitive stations.

Election Commission conducted mock polling before the actual voting to review their mechanisms and systems.

The elections will be held in the districts of Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod.

The local bodies involved are 470 gram panchayats, 77 block panchayats, seven district panchayats, 47 municipalities and three corporations.

The State Election Commission has set up 18,274 polling stations for the second phase, and 2,055 of these have been classified as sensitive because they are prone to disturbances. Kannur district has the highest number of sensitive booths with 1,025, while Thrissur has the fewest with 81.

Security has been strengthened with additional police personnel and live webcasting at all sensitive booths. Monitoring will be carried out through control rooms at district collectorates and at the commission headquarters, under the supervision of district police chiefs and city police commissioners, to ensure a peaceful voting process.