Local Body Elections: Ward Reservation Lottery from October 13 to 21

Thiruvananthapuram: The State Election Commissioner, A Shajahan, has announced that the lottery to determine reserved wards in local bodies across Kerala will be held from October 13 to 21, ahead of the upcoming local body elections. He made the announcement during a meeting with district collectors to review election preparations.

District collectors have been given the authority to conduct the lottery for ward reservations in the three-tier panchayats. The lottery for gram panchayats will take place from October 13 to 16, for block panchayats on October 18, and for district panchayats on October 21. Municipal ward lotteries will be conducted by the respective Joint Directors of Local Self-Government. On October 16, all municipalities will hold their lotteries, while Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam corporations will hold theirs in Thiruvananthapuram on October 17. Kochi and Thrissur corporations will conduct theirs in Kochi on October 18, and Kannur and Kozhikode corporations in Kozhikode on October 21. The Commission will soon release a notification with the exact dates and venues.

The State Election Commissioner has directed district collectors to ensure that all election-related tasks, including polling station reorganization, training of election officials, ward reservations, and voter list updates, are completed on time. He also confirmed that the voter list will be revised again before the elections, with the schedule to be announced later.

Reservation officers and deputy reservation officers have already been appointed, with details available on the Commission’s website, www.sec.kerala.gov.in. Training for these officers will take place from October 7 to 10 at various district-level centers. Local body secretaries will receive online training on reservation procedures on September 26, while district-level officers will be trained on September 25. District-level master trainers will receive training at the Commission in Thiruvananthapuram on September 29 and 30.

To facilitate election duty appointments, the State Election Commission has instructed the Chief Secretary to freeze transfers of government officials from October 3. The Commissioner also emphasised that all election activities, including preparatory work, must comply with the Green Protocol, and the services of organisations such as Kudumbashree, Haritha Karma Sena, and Clean Kerala Company will be utilised for this purpose.

The online meeting was attended by district collectors, State Election Commission Secretary B S Prakash, and other senior officials.