Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The State Election Commission (SEC) today announced the schedule for the 2025 Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections for North and South Goa, confirming that polling will take place on December 20, with counting of votes scheduled for December 22. With the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into immediate effect across all ZP jurisdictions, excluding municipal areas and the Corporation of the City of Panaji.
Both districts—each divided into 25 constituencies—will go to the polls on the same day. The SEC has adopted the Goa Legislative Assembly electoral roll updated till October 1, 2025, placing the total number of eligible voters at 8,68,637 across the state.
The Commission has also finalised reservations for seats, issuing a corrigendum on November 22. North Goa has seats reserved for 9 Women, 7 OBC, 1 SC, and 1 ST constituencies, while South Goa has 10 Women, 6 OBC, and 5 ST reserved seats.
A total of 1,284 polling booths will be set up—658 in North Goa and 626 in South Goa. Voting will be conducted via ballot paper, and each candidate will be allowed a maximum expenditure of ₹5 lakh.
To ensure fair and efficient conduct of elections, the Commission has appointed 15 General Observers and 15 Expenditure Observers, in addition to deploying flying squads and Static Surveillance Teams to enforce the MCC. The Police Department will deploy adequate force across both districts to maintain law and order.
Nominations will be accepted from December 1 to 9, followed by scrutiny on December 10 and withdrawals on December 11. The final list of contesting candidates will be published the same day after 2 pm.
The SEC stated that it is fully prepared to conduct peaceful, transparent, and efficient elections for all 50 Zilla Panchayat constituencies, which will be contested on party lines with scope for independent candidates.
