Vote counting for Kerala’s 2025 local body elections began at 8 a.m. across the State on Saturday.
Elections were held to 23,573 wards in 1,199 local bodies with a combined turnout of 73.69%.
The results are politically significant ahead of the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections.
Counting of votes for Kerala’s 2025 local body elections began at 8 a.m. on Saturday, with major political fronts and parties watching closely as early trends were expected by 8.30 a.m., according to The Hindu. The State Election Commission (SEC) said the final results are likely to be declared by Saturday afternoon.
As The Hindu reported, the counting process commenced after strong rooms housing the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were opened across the State. The SEC has set up 244 counting centres, while postal ballots polled for district panchayats are being counted at the respective District Collectorates.
According to The Hindu, counting is being undertaken only after verifying that the seals and tags on the control units of the EVMs are intact, in the presence of candidates or their counting and election agents, as stipulated by the SEC.
The local body polls, held in two phases on December 9 and 11, covered elections to 23,573 wards across 1,199 local bodies, including the three-tier panchayats, municipalities and corporations. The combined voter turnout across both phases stood at 73.69%, with 2,10,79,609 crore of the total 2,86,07,658 registered voters in Kerala’s 14 districts casting their votes, The Hindu reported.
The scale of the elections includes 941 grama panchayats, 152 block panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 86 municipalities and six corporations. Elections to three wards were postponed following the death of candidates during the campaign period. Mattannur municipality in Kannur district is scheduled to go to polls separately in 2027.
In the previous local body elections held in 2020, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) emerged with a clear lead in the three-tier panchayats. It went on to win 44 of the 87 municipalities, including Mattannur where elections were conducted later in 2022, five of the six corporations, over 500 grama panchayats, 11 of the 14 district panchayats and more than 100 of the 152 block panchayats, according to The Hindu.
This time, both the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are aiming to improve their performance. The polls carry added political weight as they come just months ahead of the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections, a factor that has sharpened interest in the outcome across party lines, The Hindu reported.
(With inputs from The Hindu)
