Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 9 (UNI) The first phase of polling for the Kerala local body elections began today at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.
Voting is being held across 595 local bodies in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki and Ernakulam districts.
These include 471 Gram Panchayats, 75 Block Panchayats, 7 District Panchayats, 39 Municipalities and 3 Corporations. In all, 11,168 wards — 8,310 in Gram Panchayats, 1,090 in Block Panchayats, 164 in District Panchayats, 1,371 in Municipalities and 233 in Corporations — will go to the polls today.
A total of 1,32,83,789 voters are on the rolls, comprising 62,51,219 men, 70,32,444 women and 126 transgender persons. The list also includes 456 overseas electors.
Of the total electorate, 1,01,46,336 voters are in panchayats, 15,58,524 in municipalities and 15,78,929 in corporations.
As many as 36,630 candidates are contesting in the first phase, including 17,056 men, 19,573 women and one transgender candidate.
Of them, 27,141 are contesting in Gram Panchayat wards, 3,366 in Block Panchayats, 594 in District Panchayats, 4,480 in Municipalities and 1,049 in Corporations.
For the smooth conduct of polling, 15,432 polling stations have been arranged across the seven districts. Among these, 480 booths have been identified as sensitive.
Election officials have made all arrangements, with 15,432 control units and 40,261 ballot units set for polling, while an additional 2,516 control units and 6,501 ballot units have been kept in reserve.
Kerala local body polls: First phase of voting begins
