328 objections to MBMC draft voter list
With as many as 328 suggestions and objections being registered against the draft electoral roll (voters’ list) for the upcoming Mira-Bhayandar civic polls, the State Election Commission (SEC) has issued standing instructions to the election department of the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) to make the necessary changes after proper verification before the publication of the final list on July 2.
The draft voters’ list was made public in line with the time-table set by the SEC on June 16, while political parties, voters and the general public had been enabled to file their claims, suggestions and objections if any till June 22.
It should be noted that there were a total of 3.5 lakh voters in the 2002 civic elections of Mira-Bhayandar, however, in 2007 assembly elections, the voter strength rose to a total of 4.89 lakh in both the assembly segments (Mira Bhayandar and Ovla-Majiwada). As many as 42,000 new voters were added in the supplementary list increasing the total strength of voters to 5.31 lakh.
The objections being raised are mostly related to the issue that the voters of one area being scattered which might lead to confusion on locating the election booth. Also, a few voters that reside in a particular electoral panel have been included in the electoral roll of another electoral panel.
“Moreover there are reports of massive irregularities related to changes of name, spelling mistakes and incomplete details of voters, especially in the recently added supplementary electoral roll,” said Congress Corporator Anil Sawant, who was present during the hearing session on Tuesday.
“Changes in the names or other technicalities such as deletion or addition of the names in the voters’ list is not possible. Right now, only shifting of the names is possible. It means if the name of a voter has gone to a wrong panel (ward), then that name can be shifted to the panel from where he is expected to cast the vote,” revealed an official from the election department of the MBMC.