With poll date for the local body elections nearing, the district administration has commenced distribution of voting machines to designated centres in municipalities and block panchayats. The machines were collected by the block and municipal returning officers from the warehouse at Ettumanoor Satram.
The voting machines for Ettumanur and Changanassery municipalities, as well as Vaikom, Kaduthuruthy and Pampady block panchayats were delivered on Saturday. District Collector and Election Officer Chetan Kumar Meena conducted an inspection of the Satram warehouse to oversee the distribution process. The voting machines are scheduled for delivery to the strong rooms of 17 distribution and reception centres across 11 blocks and six municipalities within the district. They will be handed over to polling officers on the eve of the elections.
On Sunday, machines will be distributed to Ettumanur, Pallam, Lalam, and Erattupetta blocks, as well as Kottayam and Erattupetta municipalities. The distribution process will conclude on Monday with deliveries to Pala and Vaikom municipalities, and the Vazhoor, Madappally, Uzhavoor, and Kanjirappally blocks.
According to the District Collector, the commissioning of voting machines will take place at the distribution centres at block and municipal levels from December 3 to 5. The district requires 1,925 control units and 5,775 ballot units of voting machines. Currently, 3,404 control units and 9,516 ballot units have been prepared for commissioning.
Meanwhile, the second phase of randomisation to determine the final list of polling staff, by excluding 20% and keeping 20% as reserve, will be held on December 2. A total of 1,925 officers will be designated as presiding officer, first polling officer, second polling officer and third polling officer, with 385 officers to be included as reserve in each category. This will result in a total of 9,240 officers after randomisation.
Training for staff
Training for polling staff was completed at the block panchayat and municipal levels on Friday. The district has identified 60 sensitive polling booths. The elections, scheduled for December 9, will see 5,281 candidates contesting across 1,611 wards in 89 local self-government institutions within the district. Of these, 2823 are women and 2458 are men. The district has a total of 1,641,176 registered voters, comprising 784,842 males, 856,321 females, and 13 transgender people. A total of 1925 polling booths are being arranged for polls.
Steps have been taken to ensure that the election code of conduct issued by the State Election Commission is followed. The Collector said that political parties, candidates and the public should be vigilant in following the code. He also directed that everyone should pay attention to following the green code in the election process.
Published – November 29, 2025 08:53 pm IST
