Mumbai: Voter turnout in Mumbai for the assembly election on Wednesday will be under close scrutiny, considering an administrative change brought in for preparing for this election. For the first time, Election Commission of India appointed the municipal commissioner as the District Election Officer for both districts in the city.
Also, all four additional commissioners of BMC, with collectors of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban districts have been designated ‘additional district election officers’. The new structure has seven senior IAS officers overseeing the poll process in Mumbai. Earlier, collectors of Mumbai Suburban and Mumbai City independently handled the role of district election officers.
In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Mumbai recorded 52.4% voter turnout — a decline from the 55.4% turnout in 2019. This assembly poll will test if the new setup impacts voter participation.
Officials said the main reason for this change is that BMC has experience of working for providing civic services and facilities. BMC has jurisdiction over the two districts. Unlike BMC, the district administrations lack extensive infrastructure and manpower needed across all parts of Mumbai.
“Therefore, Election Commission of India (ECI) has handed over responsibility of election operations to BMC, with both district administrations appointed to support it. So, compared to past elections, a larger and more responsive administrative team is available now to serve voters in Mumbai,” said an official involved in the process.
As per ECI directives, this year, each polling station in Mumbai will be equipped with assured minimum facilities for voters — drinking water, designated seating arrangements for persons in queue, waiting rooms, fans, adequate light, drinking water arrangements in queues, clean toilets, trash bins, wheelchairs, and ramps for persons with disabilities (PwD), and more. In case of tents set up in open areas, strength and quality will be ensured. To assist with crowd management at polling stations, volunteers are being appointed. If there are multiple polling stations in the same vicinity, a colour-coding system will be used to avoid confusion, ensuring voters know exactly which centre to go to.
The two districts have a total of 23,927 PwD voters. To ensure that these voters vote without inconvenience, special arrangements have been made under ECI directives.
Further, to increase turnout, several campaigns are being organised. One such is ‘Know Your Polling Station’ aimed at raising awareness of polling stations. Under this campaign, Booth Level Officers have visited voters’ homes to inform about any change in polling station location. Also, a letter with a QR code providing polling station details has been distributed to each voter.