Mumbai: Voters per booth to be reduced to ease long queues

Civic Chief Bhushan Gagrani chairs the voters’ list summary review meeting with members of political parties

If everything goes smoothly according to the plan, the long queues during voting will be a thing of the past in Mumbai. The number of voters at each booth will be limited to 1,250, which is now 1,500. During the Lok Sabha elections, the city experienced significant crowding at polling booths, leading to chaos. In preparation for the state Assembly elections, the Mumbai City Collector and the Mumbai Suburban Collector have capped the number of voters at each booth to 1,250.

Additionally, the number of polling booths at each centre will be adjusted according to the centre's area. An official noted that this measure aims to alleviate crowding at polling centres and increase voter turnout.

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"During the rationalisation, we set a maximum of 1,250 voters per booth. However, the average number of voters per booth is 1,000. We are hopeful that this will reduce the queues at the centres," said Rajendra Kshirsagar, collector of the mumbai suburbs. He also mentioned that the number of booths in Mumbai suburbs has increased by 229.

Sanjay Yadav, collector of Mumbai city, said, "This involves restructuring polling booths and clustering polling centres. Our prepared voting list indicates an average of 1,000 voters per booth. Consequently, the number of polling centres will increase by 17. We advise citizens to verify the voter's list as their previous polling station may have changed."

On Friday, Mumbai District Election Officer and Civic Chief Bhushan Gagrani held a meeting with political party representatives at the BMC headquarters. During the meeting, Collectors Yadav and Kshirsagar detailed the changes. Gagrani urged political parties to cooperate in reaching out to voters. The district collector's offices will launch a 'Know Your Polling Station' drive, and voters can submit their suggestions.