The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced the schedule for the 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala, setting April 9 as the polling date and May 4 for counting of votes.
The announcement was made in New Delhi by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners S. S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The election process will begin with the gazette notification on March 16. Candidates can file nominations until March 23, while scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on March 24. The final date for withdrawal of nominations is March 26.
Polling will be conducted across the state’s 140 Assembly constituencies, while the counting of votes will take place on May 4.
The Election Commission stated that Kerala currently has around 2.70 crore voters, including over 1.38 crore female voters, 1.31 crore male voters, and 277 transgender voters.
For the conduct of elections across multiple states and a Union Territory, the commission will deploy nearly 25 lakh officials, including polling personnel, security forces, observers, and counting staff.
With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force. This prevents governments from announcing new welfare schemes or policy decisions that could influence voters during the election period.
The current term of the Kerala Legislative Assembly ends on May 23, 2026, making the election necessary to form the next government before the term concludes.
In the previous election held in 2021, the Left Democratic Front retained power with a comfortable majority, while the United Democratic Front remained the main opposition. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is also aiming to improve its electoral performance in the state.
