Thiruvananthapuram: The elections to the local bodies in Kerala will not be postponed due to COVID-19 and efforts are on to conduct the polls in late October or early November, state Election Commissioner V Bhaskaran said.
Since this will be the first ballot battle to be held in the country during the COVID outbreak, the code of conduct and other arrangements for the local body elections will be based on the guidelines issued to fight the pandemic.
Seven districts each will go to polls in two phases. The voting time will be extended by an hour than the usual hours — it will start at 7 am and end at 6 pm; voting normally ends at 5 pm.
There will be strict restrictions on campaigning. The election commission would encourage campaigning through the media and social media instead of public meetings. Candidates can visit homes in small groups of two or three people to seek votes.
Masks and gloves will be provided to the 1.5 lakh employees who will be assigned for election duty.
Arrangements at the booths will ensure social distancing is maintained at all times. The facilities for political representatives will also follow all COVID norms.
There will be hand sanitizer in front of all officials in every booth. Voters must use it while both entering and exiting the booth. The lines for voters will have marks to ensure social distancing while they queue up.
The state election commission is considering postal/proxy voting for those aged above 75 years. It will also permit those suffering from COVID or under quarantine/observation to cast postal or a proxy (someone else at home voting for them) vote.
The Panchayat-Municipality Act will be amended as per the recommendation of the Election Commission to facilitate this. Also, since the proposal will be a temporary arrangement, an ordinance will suffice to implement it.
Although it was earlier decided to allow postal/proxy voting for those above 65 years of age, the Election Commission is likely to allow this facility for only those aged over 75 years. This is based on the assumption that elders over 65 years of age will not find it that difficult to reach polling booths.
The updated voters’ list for the local body elections will be released in the second week of August. There were many complaints that the names of the dead and those who had shifted homes had not been removed from the final voters' list that was published last month. The names are being removed by the Local Government Secretaries who are also the Electoral Registration Officers.
The election will be held in strict compliance with the COVID guidelines.
There is no final agreement yet on the new arrangements to be made for the elections to be held amid the pandemic, the state election commissioner said.
