The State Election Commission has issued the notification for the May 17 byelections in 42 local body wards. The commission began accepting the nominations on Wednesday.
Nomination papers will be accepted by the returning officers and assistant returning officers from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on working days till April 27, State Election Commissioner A. Shajahan said. The scrutiny will be held on April 28. April 30 is the last date for withdrawing nominations.
There will be 94 polling stations in all for the May 17 bypolls. The commission is in the process of posting the polling officers. They will be trained in the use of the electronic voting machines soon. The polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The counting of votes will begin at 10 a.m. on May 18.
Two Corporation wards, seven municipality wards, two block panchayat wards and 31 grama panchayat wards will go polls on May 17. Ernakulam South in the Kochi Corporation and Kakkad in the Kannur Corporation are the two Corporation wards on the list.
The commission had announced the bypoll date on April 13, bringing the election code of conduct into effect in the relevant jurisdictions.