Mumbai: Colour-coded voting strips to ease process

Rajendra Kshirsagar, Mumbai suburban district election officer and collector. Pic/Prasun Choudhari

The Mumbai suburban district collector and district election officer have decided to colour code the voting slips which will be provided to the voters, in a bit to make the election process smooth. The colour coding process will start once the voters list is finalised.

Mumbai suburban district election officer and collector Rajendra Kshirsagar said, "These colour-coded slips will be provided to voters in whose area there are more than five polling stations so that it becomes easy to navigate and find the polling booth where the voter is supposed to vote."

When asked whether this colour coding scheme was introduced after guidelines issued by the Election Commission, he said, "The colour coding scheme is a decision from the collector office itself and there is no guideline from the Election Commission regarding the same. We have taken this decision in order to make the voting experience smoother for the voters."

"The voters will also be provided with a seating and drinking water facility at the polling stations. Considering the fact that our dates of elections are May 20, there will be a lot of heat and hence we have planned the polling stations in a way that adequate shade will be available for voters waiting in line for their turn. Many people vote and return to their societies and spread a word of mouth about their voting process. This usually influences other voters to make a decision about their voting. In order to make sure that word of mouth does not reduce the voter count in a constituency, we have taken these decisions," the district collector said.

According to Kshirsagar these decisions have also been taken to ensure the average voting percentage, "as in the previous (2019) elections, we had seen less voting turnout when compared to the national and state voting percentage".

Last day to register as voter for LS elections

Kshirsagar said, "Today (April 23) is the last day to register as a voter and the voter registration software will freeze from April 24 for Mumbai Suburban district." After the process ends, the candidates will file their nominations from April 26 and May 3 will be the last day for the same. Meanwhile, May 6 will be the last day for the withdrawal of applications.

Home voting and special services for voters

The district has 15,978 registered divyangjan (physically disabled) voters and 98,174 voters above the age of 80. "Our officers have started visiting physically disabled and voters above the age of 80 door to door in order to ask them whether they will be able to visit the polling stations physically or need the home voting service. Those opting for home voting will be able to cast their vote between May 12 and May 19 on ballot paper," Kshiragar said.

"Those opting to physically visit the polling station will be offered a pickup and drop service from their homes to their polling stations and back. We have tied up with private transporters for the same and the service will be free of cost. Also, we have tied up with BEST and private bus operators to run special buses on specific routes in order to make sure that the people above the age of 80 and physically disabled voters who choose to not opt for the pickup and drop service are able to reach the polling stations hassle-free. This will be like a shuttle service and will be free of cost on May 20 (voting day)," the collector added. The 1950 helpline is designated for voters in the district.

Rise in number of transgender voters

Kshirsagar said, 812 voters are registered as transgender voters. "The number of transgender voters will be more but 812 have registered under the transgender category in the district."

Violations of Model Code of Conduct

According to Kshirsagar, a total of 188 complaints were registered on the Cvigil app which is the official app designated by the Election Commission to report violations of Model Code of Conduct. All 188 complaints were responded to within 100 minutes and resolved. "Also, we received 2,251 calls on the NGPS app to give information regarding violations of the code of conduct and these calls were attended to and resolved. One of the complaints was regarding the use of religious symbols for election campaigning and we have primarily attended to it. Further investigations are ongoing and will shortly come to a conclusion," he said.