Daijiworld Media Network - Kerala
Kerala, Dec 11: The second phase of the local body elections in Kerala witnessed a voter turnout of 28.84% till 11 am as polling continued across seven northern districts on Wednesday. Voters are choosing their representatives for the three-tier panchayat system in rural regions and for municipalities and corporations in urban areas.
The districts voting in this phase are Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod. Polling, which began at 7 am, will continue until 6 pm in 18,274 polling stations, including 2,055 identified as sensitive.
In total, 12,391 wards across 604 local bodies are going to polls. This includes:
• 9,015 wards in 470 grama panchayats
• 1,177 wards in 77 block panchayats
• 182 divisions across seven district panchayats
• 1,829 wards in 47 municipalities
• 188 wards in three corporations
A massive 1.53 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots — comprising 72.46 lakh men, 80.90 lakh women, and 161 transgender voters, along with 3,293 overseas electors. A total of 38,994 candidates are in the fray across the seven districts.
The first phase of polling, held on December 9 in the southern and central districts including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, and Ernakulam, saw an impressive turnout of around 70%.
Counting of votes for both phases will be held on December 13.