Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 16 (PTI) The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to bring an ordinance to extend the voting time for the upcoming local body elections and also to provide postal ballot facility to COVID-19 patients. It decided to introduce necessary amendments to the state Panchayati Raj Act for the local body elections, likely to be conducted by mid-October. A cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan decided to extend the voting time from 7 AM to 6 PM instead of 5 PM, an official release said.

"The state government has decided to extend the voting time by one hour and will recommend the Governor to issue an ordinance in this regard. Those who are affected with COVID-19 and those under quarantine will have the opportunity to avail the postal vote facility," it said.

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The cabinet also decided to re-promulgate at least 23 ordinanceswhich had lapsed.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)