Thane Voters Face Confusion Over Multiple-Ballot System in Municipal Elections
Voters in Thane's Mumbra area experienced significant confusion during recent municipal corporation elections. Many citizens left polling stations believing they had cast their votes, only to learn their ballots were not counted.
The Beep That Never Came
"No, the beep sound was not heard. Your vote has not been cast," a poll officer informed a citizen walking out of a Mumbra polling station. The voter had completed what he thought was the voting process, but the electronic voting machine had not registered his ballot.
The officer explained that under the new system, voters needed to cast three or four separate votes for their participation to count. This marked a departure from the traditional one-ward-one-corporator model that Maharashtra voters had known for years.
Widespread Confusion Across Polling Centers
The confusion extended far beyond that single voter. In 28 of Maharashtra's 29 municipal corporations holding elections, citizens faced the same multi-vote requirement during their single visit to polling booths.
An official at St Bosco School voting center in Mumbra acknowledged the problem. "While awareness drives had been carried out, there was still some confusion among voters," he admitted.
One particular point of confusion involved the number of voting machines. During trial runs, voters had practiced on four separate machines. At actual polling centers, some locations had only three machines because certain panels featured just two contestants whose names fit on a single machine.
How the System Actually Worked
Shyam Naik, presiding officer for Booth no 14 at St Bosco School, explained the mechanics. "The number of machines used depended on the number of contestants per panel. If more people are contesting, the number of machines goes up."
Polling officials had attempted to clarify the process through visual aids. "We put up photographs showing how polling for the four panels would work right outside the polling booth," Naik added. "This helped people understand the process better."
Officials noted that voters who participated in the 2017 Thane Municipal Corporation elections had more clarity about the panel system. New voters, however, struggled to grasp the multi-vote requirement.
Family Separation at Polling Stations
Beyond the ballot confusion, voters faced another unexpected challenge. Family members living at the same address often had to vote at different locations.
Ali Nawaz, who voted in the elections, described his family's experience. "My father and brother voted at one center, while my mother had to go to another location. My name was listed at a school some distance from my mother's polling booth."
"Our family had to move from one polling center to another for all of us to cast our votes," he explained.
Why Families Got Separated
Poll officials provided explanations for this separation. "Since for civic polls, constituencies are smaller, at times the roll for one center ends abruptly and the others are allotted to another center," Naik stated.
Another official noted that when family members register separately, it could lead to changes in their assigned voting centers. This administrative reality created logistical challenges for households trying to vote together.
The combination of a new voting system and separated family voting locations created a perfect storm of confusion during Thane's municipal elections. While officials had conducted awareness campaigns, many voters still found themselves uncertain about whether their democratic participation had been properly recorded.
