The State Election Commission has issued orders requiring employees of private commercial and industrial establishments to grant their employees a holiday on election day for casting their vote in the local body elections that are scheduled to be held in two phases on December 9 and 11.
Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Alappuzha and Ernakulam go to the polls on December 9, and Thrissur, Malappuram, Wayanad, Palakkad, Kannur, Kasaragod, and Kozhikode on December 11. The establishments have also been directed not to withhold their salary or reduce it on account of the holiday. Voters who are employed outside their districts should be given special permission to travel to their polling station and vote, the commission said.