BMC Election 2026: Mumbai polls marred by missing voter names and booth changes

Voters across several parts of Mumbai reported difficulties in casting their ballots after discovering that their names were missing from electoral rolls or had been shifted to polling booths in neighbouring wardsVoters check their names against lists at MHB Colony Marathi and Urdu School polling centre at Malwani Malad West on Thursday PICSATEJ SHINDEIn several cases members of the same family living at the same address were assigned to different wards forcing them to travel to multiple booths With civic polls often decided by razorthin margins such discrepancies in voter lists could significantly affect outcomes in closely contested wardsName missing and confusion in AareySajid Nandolia of Aarey Milk Colony who had to visit multiple polling boothsIn Aarey Milk Colony Sajid Nandolia said he faced a similar issue ldquoWhen I went to vote at the polling station near Picnic Point my name was missing I later found my name in an adjoining ward where I had voted during the Assembly elections and managed to cast my vote thererdquo he saidFamily split in wardsAt a polling booth in Millat Nagar Ward 60 Andheri West midday spoke to local resident Shafique Rangooni who said three registered voters live in his household ldquoMy sonrsquos name appeared at the Millat Nagar polling booth in Ward 60 but my daughter Suheera and I were told to vote at a polling centre in Ward 61rdquo he saidAnother resident from the area who requested anonymity said several voters were redirected to neighbouring wards due to technical reasons ldquoWhat is the point of voting in another ward when you live elsewhere In BMC elections every single vote matters and such errors can influence resultsrdquo the resident saidSajid Nandolia of Aarey Milk Colony who had to visit multiple polling boothsA similar case was reported from Ward 68 where Laxman Sawant found his name missing from the wardrsquos votersrsquo list even though three members of his family were listed there On verification he learned that his name had been shifted to Ward 60 requiring him to travel there to cast his vote Mangesh S a Shiv Sena UBT worker from Ward 68 said ldquoSawant and his family have voted in this ward in every election This time his vote was shifted elsewhere resulting in the loss of one vote in our wardrdquoWidespread confusion in Charkop MalwaniWidespread confusion was also reported in Charkop and Malwani following ward restructuring with entire families split across different wards despite residing under the same roofVishnu Chauhan right with his father Ramdhavan whose votes were listed in separate wards despite residing in same house PicsSamiullah KhanIn Charkoprsquos Bhabrekar Nagar 26yearold Vikas Gupta said his vote was shifted from Ward 19 to Ward 32 ldquoEarlier my entire family voted at the same polling centre This time my name appeared in Ward 32 while my motherrsquos name remained in Ward 19rdquo he said While Gupta voted in the new ward his mother had to travel to the earlier polling centreGupta said several families faced similar problems with voters moving from one polling centre to another for hours He cited neighbours Vishnu Chauhan and Ramdhavan Chauhan a father and son whose votes were split across two wards despite living togetherVikas Gupta left with his friend Ashok Gupta Guptarsquos vote was shifted to a different ward while other family members remained in original wardIn another household members of the Chaurasiya family were divided between Wards 19 and 32 with only the fatherrsquos name appearing in a different ward from the rest of the familyGupta said the reshuffle left many voters confused ldquoEarlier I knew the candidates in my ward This time I voted in a ward where I didnrsquot even know who was contesting I ended up voting based on the party symbolrdquo he saidBorivli residents name missingThe names of 28 residents of Borivlirsquos Abhinandan society were found missing on the votersrsquo list The society members visited all booths in the locality but were unable to cast their votes because none of their names featured on any list Society members told midday that they had voted in the last two elections but their names were surprisingly missing in this electionSome of the 28 residents of Abhinandan Society in Borivli who were unable to cast their votes after their names were found missing from the electoral rolls PicBy Special ArrangementSecretary of the society Manoj Mane said ldquoThe names of 28 people from our society are missing from the lists We canrsquot do anything now because the election is over But we request the government to put our names back on the list Voting is our rightrdquo ldquoWe are not against the government but we should be able to vote properly in the next electionrdquo Mane saidInk concernsSeveral voters also raised concerns over the quality of the indelible ink applied during voting claiming it began fading within hours Videos showing ink coming off easily were widely circulated on social media with users questioning its effectiveness and qualityCouple get split upMurari Amarnath Singh and his wife Sugandha whose votes were assigned to different wards despite living at the same addressIn Malwani senior journalist Murari Amarnath Singh said even couples were affected ldquoMy area falls under Ward 33 But on polling day I was told my name was in Ward 34 while my wifersquos vote was listed in Ward 32rdquo he saidVoter slips of Murari Amarnath Singh and his wife Sugandha showing different polling booths after ward restructuring PicsSamiullah KhanPolling problems galore in cityDysfunctional toilets A temporary movable toilet block had been arranged at the Shailendra Nagar Dahisar polling centre However the toilets lacked inside latches and no water containers had been placed for use within rendering them useless In another centre in the nearby Ambawadi four toilets were also unusable with one being used to store itemsNo marking outside polling booths Unlike the earlier state legislature or parliamentary elections there were no 100metre perimeter markings outside election booths confusing citizens police personnel and election officialsThe movable toilet block in Shailendra Nagar Dahisar which was essentially unusable PicSamiullah KhanNo voter slips Several electors complained that voter slips werenrsquot distributed leading to confusion as to where to vote till the last minute Many ended up checking websites but the data did not match the lists with the electoral officialsOne of the toilets at the Ambawadi centreNo recognition of digital ID cards Many complained that they had to return as the digital ID and photos of Aadhaar cards on mobile phones were not considered valid and voters were asked to come back with physical hard copies leading to arguments at polling boothsWhere to check for your name before next electionLok Sabha poll httpselectoralsearchecigovinAssembly and civic poll httpsmahasecvoterlistinText Samiullah Khan and Ritika Gondhalekar