Thiruvananthapuram,11 Dec (H.S.):Polling began on Thursday morning in the second phase of the Kerala local body elections, covering the seven northern districts of Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod. Voting commenced at 7 a.m., following a mock poll held an hour earlier, and will continue until 6 p.m.

The mandated silent campaign period for these districts came into effect at 6 p.m. on December 9, bringing all electioneering activities to a close. The first phase of polling in the remaining seven districts was conducted on the same day.

The State Election Commission has announced that counting of votes will take place on December 13, starting at 8 a.m. Postal ballots will be counted first, followed by votes recorded on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Real-time updates and ward-wise results will be made available through the TREND software.

Once the results are declared, the newly elected members will take oath, after which elections to the chairperson, vice-chairperson and standing committee posts will be held as per the schedule issued by the commission.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman