A. Shajahan, State Election Commissioner. | Photo credit: Special arrangement
The State Election Commission (SEC) has called for an amendment to the law to expand postal voting for local body elections in Kerala to include voters over 80 and essential service workers, and to introduce three additional qualifying dates for voter registration.
These recommendations form part of the SEC report on local polls in 2025 released by Governor Rajendra Arlekar here on Saturday, State Election Commissioner A. Shajahan, who is expected to resign on Monday.
In setting them up, the Kerala SEC took a cue from the Election Commission of India (EC), which is tasked with managing state assembly and parliamentary elections, and offers these facilities. “Suitable amendments may be made to the provisions of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, the Kerala Municipalities Act and the relevant rules to extend the postal voting facility to persons performing military service, essential services, media persons and senior citizens (above 80 years) as they cannot cast their votes at the polling station on polling day as mentioned in the People’s Act report.
The SEC, which maintains its own electoral roll and administers local body elections, has received numerous requests for postal votes from government and civic groups in the run-up to the two-phased local body polls on 9 and 11 December 2025. Currently, SEC ballots are limited to officials directly involved in the conduct of elections.
Enrollment dates
The SEC has proposed an amendment to the law that sets the qualifying dates for enrollment in its voter list as January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 per year, the same arrangement as in the EC. Currently, the SEC only offers January 1st as a qualifying date.
In connection with the local body polls, the SEC has also called for legal provisions to deploy central government employees in Kerala for duties related to local body elections and increase the expenditure ceiling of candidates. The commission also recommended drafting a law to prohibit defacement of public property and link Aadhaar and voter list.
Delimitation of Wards after Census
The SEC further suggested that ward delimitation be done after every census rather than every five years. “The Commission’s view is that delimitation should be done on the basis of the latest census data,” Mr. Shajahan, who also chaired the last State Delimitation Commission, told The Hindu.
Unique building identification number
The SEC has recommended that “unique building identification numbers” be developed for buildings in Kerala. Mr. Shajahan said such numbers could help avoid the confusion that follows a change in numbers after delimitation of departments.
During his tenure as Commissioner, Mr. Shajahan said he felt satisfied that he could smoothly exercise the constitutional powers of the Commission. His tenure, which began on 31 March 2021, was marked by a delimitation exercise held as Chairman of the Delimitation Commission, a revision of the national electoral roll, the 2025 local body general elections and 13 by-elections. The five-year period also saw the integration of IT systems into the local authority election process, including the QField application for precinct mapping and unique voter numbers.
On Saturday, the governor also released the SEC’s 2026 annual book and a summary of important Supreme Court verdicts related to local polls.
Published – 28 March 2026 18:20 IST
