Mumbai revamps voting experience with new facilities and faster queues

After witnessing low voter turnouts and long queues at polling centres during the recent Lok Sabha election the Election Commission of India ECI has taken steps to make the voting process less taxing According to officials toilets and waiting rooms have been set up at polling centresBhushan Gagrani the municipal commissioner and district election officer for Mumbai and the suburbs at a press conference at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC headquarters on Monday said that facilities would be provided to voters at polling boothsSanjay Ramgude centre president of the Sukhant Antim Sanskar Seva Sansthan has been visiting housing societies schools and corporate offices to raise awareness about the importance of voting in Wednesdayrsquos state assembly election Dressed as Lord Yama Ramgude works with Mumbairsquos newspaper vendors to deliver the message that voting is an important democratic right and that everyone in the city should exercise itGagrani elaborated ldquoFacilities such as waiting rooms drinking water clean toilets and chairs will be provided and volunteers will be deputed to help voters To accelerate the voting process the BMC has introduced a new arrangement whereby four voters will be allowed to enter a polling booth simultaneously Before only one voter was allowed at a timerdquoFacilities for differently abledA special helpline number 1950 has been created for Divyang differently abled voters and vehicles dropping off voters to centres will pick them up from 1284 spots across the city and suburbsldquoThe centres are equipped with wheelchairs and ramps and volunteers are present to help Divyang votersrdquo said GagraniThere had been complaints about uneven ramps during past elections ldquoWe have taken measures to ensure Divyang voters can exercise their franchise easilyrdquo Gagrani addedMeanwhile mobile phones will not be allowed within a 100metre radius of a polling centre even if switched off ldquoWe had discussed allowing mobile phones at voting centres with the Election Commission But there are some legal issues So they are not allowed even if they are switched offrdquo said GagraniAround one lakh people including 60000 BMC employees and 25696 police officers will be on election duty on November 20 In the Lok Sabha election around 48000 BMC employees were deputed on election duty Gagrani said this would not affect the essential services as staff involved with essential services such as medical and fire brigade officers were not assigned electionrelated workSeizures of cash illicit goodsAccording to Gagrani around Rs 34731 crore worth of cash precious metals liquor drugs and freebies were seized while the Model Code of Conduct was being imposed in Mumbai From the suburbs alone precious metals worth 23867 crores were seized While Rs 4557 crore in cash and drugs worth R4896 crore were seized in the city and suburbs ldquoThe incometax department is looking into the matter of the seized cashrdquo he saidLok Sabha poll chaosEarlier this year during the general election voters complained about delays and long queues at some polling centres According to news reports at Sion Koliwada Dharavi and Bandra it took hours for some to exercise their franchiseIn the 2019 Lok Sabha election Mumbai recorded a voting percentage of 55 per cent which declined to 5238 per cent this year For the upcoming Assembly election the number of polling booths in the metropolis has increased by 218 To reduce queues the ECI has reduced the average number of voters per polling station from 1500 to 1200Critical polling stationsThe Election Commission has directed that polling stations where the percentage of votes polled during the recent general election was more than 90 per cent or more than 75 per cent of votes polled were in favour of one candidate or less than 10 per cent of votes were recorded be identified as critical polling stations There are around 73 such polling stations in Mumbai and no sensitive polling stationRs 34731 crValue of cash illicit goods seized in Mumbai when Model Code of Conduct was in forceThings to known1 You can locate your polling station at httpselectoralsearchecigovinpollingstation2 Check VVPAT slip after pressing the button on EVM machine3 Vote early in the day as high temperatures are expected in the afternoon4 Mobile phones are not allowed inside polling station6 Senior citizens voters with disabilities and pregnant women will get priority