Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: EVM commissioning completed in Kollam

The commissioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the upcoming Assembly elections has been successfully completed in Kollam district.

The process, conducted under the supervision of returning officers at the designated strongrooms in each constituency, involved affixing ballot labels featuring the names, photos, and symbols of the candidates onto the ballot units. Following this, the ballot units and control units were securely sealed using specialised tags.

To ensure a smooth polling process across 2,256 polling stations, the district has prepared 2,698 ballot units, 2,691 control units, and 2,920 VVPAT machines, including reserve units.

Parallel to these preparations, the home voting initiative has seen significant participation, with 14,376 individuals casting their votes from their residences. This facility was specifically utilised by 10,384 senior citizens above the age of 85 and 3,992 voters from the persons with disabilities (PwD) category. Conducted between March 30 and April 4, the process was managed by 159 dedicated polling teams. While 14,912 voters had initially received approval for home voting via Form 12D, the vast majority have already completed their voting process.

Furthermore, the postal voting centres (PVC) set up for personnel in essential services have recorded 2,827 votes as of April 4. This category includes employees from vital sectors such as the police, fire and rescue, KSRTC, KSEB, Water Authority, and Milma, as well as accredited media professionals. The district administration confirmed that all electoral procedures are progressing systematically to ensure a transparent and accessible election for all eligible voters.