Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe, extreme right, during a public rally ahead of the Pune Municipal Corporation election, in Pune, Maharashtra.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Barring Mumbai, the voting in 28 municipal corporations in Maharashtra would follow the 'panel system’, which could leave the voters in a confused state.
In Mumbai, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is divided into 24 administrative wards and 227 electoral wards/seats.
The financial capital of Mumbai, which is covered under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, would continue to follow the old system — where the voter would have to press a button and register one vote in the machine and elect one corporator - like in the case of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.
However, the rest of the 28 corporations would have panel system as per the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations Act.
In the rest of Maharashtra, one has to vote as per the panel system or multi-ward system - where the person generally elects four corporators. However, the exact number can vary slightly, as some specific panels may elect only three corporators depending on population and administrative boundaries.
This means there would be two, three or four voting machines, depending on the total number of candidates for each seat, where people have to select four candidates, one each from each of the wards.
The wards are numbered, for example Ward 29, which is divided into seats ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ - bearing different colours to avoid confusion.
The voter is required to elect a panel to register a valid vote, which means he or she has to select one candidate each from machines marked as ‘A’ (white), ‘B’ (light pink), ‘C’ (light yellow) and ‘D’ (light blue).
Voters must press the button for one candidate in each seat.
There would be a beep sound and a red light would flash after each vote is cast in each seat.
After voting for all seats, a long buzzer will indicate that the voting process has been successfully completed.
Multiple votes cannot be cast for a single seat, as the rule of 'one seat, one vote' will strictly apply.
A separate NOTA (none of the above) option will be available for each seat, if one wishes to press that.
As part of their campaign, political parties and candidates have made dummy EVMs through which they are explaining to people how to vote.
“One has to vote carefully. There are four seats and one has to vote for four candidates, one from each seat,” said Congress candidate Ashraf Ali, Secretary, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee’s Social Justice Department, who is contesting elections for Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation.
“We are explaining people how to vote during our door-to-door campaign and also when people come to our stalls to check their names in the voters list,” added Surekha Dhamane, a BJP activist who is campaigning for elections to the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation.
“The elections are going to be tricky. One has to be very careful during the voting,” said MS Joshi, who is a voter for Thane Municipal Corporation.
No municipal corporation in Maharashtra has gone for polls since 2020, post the reintroduction of the panel system.