State Election Commissioner Neelam Sawhney has announced that the local body elections in Andhra Pradesh will be held in four phases. She said that they will consult the government on conducting elections with EVMs. However, she mentioned that EVMs were used in elections held in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar.
She said that a decision will be taken soon on the purchase and use of EVMs. On the other hand, the State Election Commission is working to hold the local body elections in AP three months earlier, i.e. in January 2026. It intends to make arrangements as per the provisions of the law to conduct the elections three months before the end of the five-year term.
Neelam Sawhney recently wrote letters to the Commissioners of Panchayati Raj and Municipal Administration Departments in this regard. The term of office of corporators and councilors in city administrations, municipal corporations, and city panchayats will end in March 2026. Similarly, the term of office of sarpanches will also end in April next year.
With this, the State Election Commissioner said in his letter that arrangements should be made for the conduct of elections three months in advance. She said that there are 1,37,671 polling stations in village panchayats. She said that 41,301 control units and 82,602 ballot units will be required for the elections. Two ballot units can be linked to one control unit.
Schedule for conducting elections
* The process of re-division of wards and reservations should be completed by October 15, 2025.
*The ward-wise voters’ list should be prepared and published between October 16 and November 15.
* Appointment of election officers should be completed between November 1 and 15.
* Finalization of polling stations, preparation and collection of EVMs should be completed between November 16 and 30.
* Reservations should be finalized by December 15.
* Meetings should be held with political parties in the last week of December.
* Finally, the election notification should be issued in January 2026 and the results should be announced in the same month.