About 24 lakh voters in Palakkad district are set to vote on Thursday to choose their representatives in three-tier panchayats and municipalities. A total of 6,724 candidates are contesting in this local body election. Voting starts at 7 a.m. and goes on until 6 p.m. Voters who arrive before 6 p.m. will still be allowed to vote, even if it takes longer. The administration has declared Thursday and Saturday as dry days. The district has arranged 3,054 polling booths—2,749 in panchayats and 305 in municipalities. Election officials reached the booths by Wednesday afternoon, bringing voting machines and materials. After voting, machines will be returned to 20 distribution and counting centers. Vote counting is scheduled for Saturday. There are 284 sensitive polling stations due to political clashes, communal tensions, unauthorized agents, or high voter numbers. Sensitive areas include Palakkad, Chittoor-Thattamangalam, Cherpulassery municipalities, and 60 grama panchayats. Webcams will monitor 180 of these booths for transparency. The Election Commission deployed 4,366 control units and 12,393 ballot units. In grama panchayats, one control unit connects to three ballot units; in municipalities, one control unit connects to one ballot unit. Security includes 4,500 police personnel, led by 25 deputy superintendents, 40 inspectors, and 300 sub-inspectors, backed by 140 Central paramilitary forces. Each web-monitored sensitive booth has additional officers. Teams of four officers cover high-alert areas, with about 500 extra forces in Maoist-affected zones like Attappady. In 93 wards across six grama panchayats near Tamil Nadu, candidates’ names will appear in Tamil on the ballot labels as well.