By-elections for 49 wards to happen on Tuesday; ink to be applied on middle finger of left hand

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: By-elections to 49 local wards in Kerala will be held on July 30. State Election Commissioner A Shahjahan informed that preparations for polling have been completed.

Polling will be from 7 am to 6 pm on Tuesday. Voters can use the identity card issued by the Central Election Commission, passport, driving license, pancard, Aadhaar card, SSLC book with photo, and any identity document issued by any nationalized bank up to six months prior to the date of the election. This time, indelible ink will be applied on the middle finger of the left hand of the voters, instead of the index finger. The new change has been implemented because the ink marks on the index finger of voters who have voted in the April 2024 Lok Sabha elections have not completely faded.

The by-elections are being held in one district panchayat, four block panchayats, six municipalities and 38 gram panchayat wards in 13 districts except Wayanad. A total of 169 candidates are seeking the mandate. 76 candidates are women. 211 polling booths have been set up for polling.

The by-election will be conducted on the basis of the electoral roll published on July 1, 2024 after a brief update. There are 163639 voters in the final voter list of 49 wards. There are 77409 males, 86228 females and two transgenders on the final voter list. The electoral roll is available on the website www.sec.kerala.gov.in. A mock poll will be held at 6 am on the polling day. Steps have been taken to maintain law and order. Special police security will be provided at the problematic booths. The counting of votes will be held on July 31 at 10 am at various centres and results will be available on TREND at www.sec.kerala.gov.in.