Voting is currently in full swing across three local self-government wards in Kerala this Monday, where special elections were triggered following the unfortunate deaths of the original candidates. The polls are concentrated in the Vizhinjam ward of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the Payimpadam ward in Malappuram, and the Onakkur ward in Ernakulam.
By midday, turnout was looking quite steady. As of 12:10 pm, Malappuram was leading the pack with a 56 per cent turnout, while Ernakulam followed at 42.77 pc and Vizhinjam at 35.39 pc. Across all three areas, the total polling average sat at 37.23 pc.
The doors opened at 7 am and will stay open until 6 pm this evening. Vizhinjam is by far the largest of the three contests, with over 13,000 voters and ten polling stations. In contrast, Payimpadam and Onakkur are much smaller affairs, each operating out of a single polling station with roughly 1,000 voters apiece. Once the dust settles tonight, the focus will shift to the counting centres, where the results are expected to be announced starting at 10 am on Tuesday, January 13.
While voters are at the booths, the State Election Commission has also issued a stern reminder to all candidates about their paperwork. Today is the final deadline for contestants to submit their election expense accounts to their respective local body secretaries. The commission isn't playing around here— any candidate from the general elections who misses this deadline risks being disqualified from their current post and barred from running for office again for the next five years.
These accounts have to be logged online through the commission’s portal, though candidates can still hand over hard copies of their bills and vouchers directly to local body secretaries if they prefer.
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