Thiruvananthapuram: Local body elections in the state are likely to be held before December 15. The State Election Commission has started preparations for the polls.
Though there are concerns about holding the elections even in accordance with the COVID protocol, both the commission and the state government are of the view that it is not appropriate to postpone the elections for a long time.
The current term of the local bodies will end on November 11. They will then be under administrative rule for more than a month.
If the election extends beyond December, it will affect the procedures for the Assembly elections slated for next year. The process to update the voter lists for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will also start in January.
Besides, the fact that there will be two elections (local body and Assembly) without much interval and there will be a code of conduct for both the polls for a long time will lead to a stalemate in governance.
The reservation ward lottery in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam corporations that was postponed after some employees in the directorate of urban affairs contracted COVID and the determination of reservation for local body chairpersons will take place this month.
Election training for returning officers and other officials at the district and block levels will begin on Thursday and end on October 26.
The voters' list will be updated once again before the election. The first phase of testing of the voting machines will also begin soon. In all 45,000 machines are required to conduct the polls of which 8,000 machines will be borrowed from the Central Election Commission.
The office of the State Election Commission, which was closed on Friday after an employee was found to have COVID, reopened on Wednesday.
