Voters, poll officials and party candidates gear up for BMC, municipal elections

The voters election officials and political parties are making final preparations ahead of polling for the BMC Election 2026 and other municipal elections across Maharashtra on ThursdayPolling arrangements have been completed with officials finalising booth readiness security deployment and voter facilitation measuresPolitical parties and candidates wrapped up lastminute campaigning on Wednesday appealing to voters on local issues such as civic services infrastructure and governanceThe civic elections being held after long delays in many cities are seen as crucial for urban local bodies especially the highprofile BMCVoting will take place under tight security and the counting of votes is scheduled for FridayIn Mumbai the police have made elaborate security and traffic arrangements for smooth voting in the citySpecial arrangements are made in sensitive areas of Mumbai said an officialPolling on Jan 15 and vote counting on Jan 16Polling will take place on Thursday for elections to 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra including the highprofile Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC in Mumbai The counting of votes is scheduled for Friday January 16Although elections were initially notified for 2869 seats 68 candidates have already been elected unopposed As a result voting will be held for the remaining 2801 seatsThe list of civic bodies going to the polls includes two newly created municipal corporations including Jalna and Ichalkaranji as well as major cities such as Pune PimpriChinchwad Nagpur Thane Nashik and Navi MumbaiMany of these civic bodies have been run by administrators after their elected terms expired between 2020 and 2023Different voting systems across regionsMumbai will follow a singlemember ward system under which each voter will cast one vote to elect a representative from their wardIn contrast the remaining 28 municipal corporations will use a multimember ward system with most wards electing four representativesPolling arrangements in placeThe State Election Commission SEC has made extensive arrangements for the polls catering to around 348 crore eligible votersAcross Maharashtra 39147 polling stations have been set up equipped with 43958 Control Units and 87916 Ballot UnitsIn Mumbai alone there are 10111 polling stations with 11349 Control Units and 22698 Ballot UnitsMeasures to prevent electoral malpracticesThe SEC has used Assembly electoral rolls as of July 1 2025 for the municipal elections Possible duplicate names in wardwise voter lists have been marked with double asterisks and such voters have been preverified through doortodoor checksVoters whose names are marked but who have not been preverified will be required to submit a written undertaking and valid identity proof before being allowed to voteVoter assistance and special facilitiesThe SEC has launched a mobile application available on the Google Play Store to help voters locate their names on the electoral roll find polling stations and access candidate details using their name or EPIC Voter ID numberPriority will be given to senior citizens persons with disabilities pregnant women and mothers with infantsTo ensure secrecy of voting and prevent disputes mobile phones have been strictly prohibited inside polling boothsEarlier the SEC had stated that polling stations have been mandated to provide ramps and wheelchairsIn areas with a high turnout of women voters special ldquoPink Boothsrdquo have been set up staffed entirely by women election officials and police personnel it had statedGet all BMC Election 2026 updates here Your ward info belowRead more All about BMC ElectionRead more Know Your Ward