(MENAFN- IANS) Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 5 (IANS) The Congress in Kerala has urged the State Election Commission to extend the deadline for adding names to the voter list ahead of the upcoming local body elections.

V.D. Satheesan, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly, on Tuesday submitted a formal letter to the State Election Commission in this regard.

According to the current schedule, the final voter list was published on July 23, and citizens were given 15 days, until August 7, to submit applications for inclusion.

The list contains approximately 26.68 million voters, updated from the 2020 list with revisions in 2023 and 2024.

However, Satheesan pointed out that the limited time frame, coupled with widespread technical issues, has prevented many eligible voters from registering.

“From the outset, several locations reported disruptions to the online system being used for adding names, making corrections, and transferring voter details from one ward to another. These issues have reportedly worsened as the deadline approaches, with frequent complaints of the official website becoming unresponsive or crashing,” said Satheesan.

“There have been numerous complaints that many individuals who had voted in the previous elections do not find their names in the current list,” the Opposition Leader noted in the letter.

Citing the technical failures and the growing number of complaints from the public, Satheesan urged the Election Commission to extend the deadline by at least 15 more days to ensure that all eligible voters are able to exercise their democratic right.

The Election Commission has not yet issued an official response to the request.

The next local body elections in Kerala are scheduled for December 2025, covering nearly all existing institutions -- except Mattannur Municipality, which follows a separate cycle -- across roughly 1,200 local self-government bodies, including Gram Panchayats, Block Panchayats, District Panchayats, Municipalities, and Municipal Corporations.

The upcoming local body elections are being viewed by all three major political fronts -- the LDF, UDF, and NDA -- as "semi-finals" ahead of the Kerala Legislative Assembly elections, which are likely to be held in April or May next year.

With grassroots governance at stake and voter sentiment in focus, the local body elections are expected to serve as a crucial indicator of the public mood heading into the high-stakes state polls.

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