With crucial municipal corporation elections scheduled across Maharashtra, election officials on the ground are making a fervent appeal to the State Election Commission (SEC). They are hoping for a crucial one-day buffer between the polling date of January 15 and the counting of votes, currently set for January 16.
The Push for a Breathing Space
The issue is expected to be a key point of discussion at an upcoming coordination meeting next week, as confirmed by an official involved in the poll preparations. The core request is straightforward: shift the counting of votes to January 17. This would reinstate a practice followed in previous corporation elections, providing a vital window for administrative procedures and rest.
The current back-to-back schedule for January 15 and 16 is drawing sharp criticism from senior officials. One unnamed official did not mince words, calling the timetable "unrealistic and absolutely inhuman," especially for corporations with a large number of electoral wards. The strain is anticipated to be significant given the scale of the exercise covering 29 municipal corporations, 893 wards, and 2,869 seats.
Why a Day's Gap is Crucial
Officials point to the immense logistical challenge that follows the close of polling. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) must be securely collected from thousands of polling stations, transported to designated strong rooms, sealed, and placed under tight security. This intricate process often continues well past midnight.
If counting begins at 10 am the following day, returning officers (ROs) and their assistants are left with hardly any time to recuperate. "A day's gap will help ROs and assistant ROs complete procedures carefully and be mentally fresh for counting," explained another official. The 2017 civic polls had such a buffer, with voting on February 21 and counting on February 23.
The pressure could multiply if a repoll is ordered in any ward, as the same exhausted officers would then have to oversee the fresh voting while simultaneously preparing for the counting process.
The Scale of the Challenge
The numbers underscore the workload. The SEC has appointed 228 Returning Officers to manage the 893 wards. The distribution highlights the disparity in responsibility:
- Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (227 wards): 23 ROs
- Pune Municipal Corporation (41 wards): 15 ROs
- Thane Municipal Corporation (33 wards): 11 ROs
In Pune, for instance, 15 ROs will handle 41 wards and 165 corporator seats, with each officer managing two to three wards. The scenario is similar in Pimpri Chinchwad, where eight ROs will oversee 32 wards, with some handling up to four wards each.
While the SEC has so far adhered to January 16 as the counting day, ground-level officers remain cautiously optimistic. They cite a recent precedent where the commission showed flexibility by extending the deadline for finalizing voter lists to January 3 to verify nearly 11 lakh suspected duplicate entries.
"When timelines can be adjusted for voter lists' verification in the interest of accuracy, we hope the commission will consider a small extension for counting in the interest of smooth conduct of polls," said a Pune-based RO. However, a senior poll official noted that since the schedule has been formally announced, a change is now unlikely and the concern should have been raised earlier in the planning discussions.
