Thiruvananthapuram: The State Election Commission (SEC) on Monday announced the schedule for the 2025 local body elections in Kerala, which will be conducted in two phases on December 9 and 11.

In the first phase, seven southern districts - Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Alappuzha, and Ernakulam - will go to the polls on Tuesday, December 9. The remaining districts - Thrissur, Malappuram, Wayanad, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Kannur, and Kasaragod - will cast their votes on Thursday, December 11.

State Election Commissioner A. Shajahan announced that the model code of conduct has come into effect immediately. Polling will take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a mock poll scheduled an hour before voting begins at each booth. Counting of votes will be held on Saturday, December 13, starting at 8 a.m.

The last date for filing nominations is November 21, followed by scrutiny on November 22. The deadline for withdrawal of nominations is November 24.

Elections will be held in 1,199 of Kerala’s 1,200 local bodies, with Mattannur Municipality excluded as its tenure extends until September 2027. A total of 23,612 wards will go to the polls this time, compared to 21,900 in the previous election following the recent delimitation process.

The elections will cover 17,337 grama panchayat wards, 2,267 block panchayat wards, 346 district panchayat wards, 3,205 municipality wards, and 421 corporation wards.

Kerala’s updated voter list includes 2,84,30,761 electors - comprising 1,34,12,470 men, 1,50,18,010 women, and 282 transgender voters. Additional voter enrollment was conducted on November 4 and 5, and a supplementary list reflecting the final changes will be published on November 14.

For the 2025 elections, 33,746 polling stations will be set up across the state - 28,127 in panchayats, 3,604 in municipalities, and 2,015 in corporations.

The SEC has set the maximum expenditure limit per candidate at ₹25,000 for grama panchayats, ₹75,000 for block panchayats and municipalities, and ₹1.5 lakh for district panchayats and corporations. These limits exclude expenses incurred by political parties. Shajahan noted that over 10,000 candidates were disqualified in the 2020 elections for exceeding spending limits.