Maharashtra SEC extends draft voter list deadline

The move is likely to push back the municipal election schedule across major cities, including Mumbai and Thane, by at least seven days

Mumbai: Cautious amid protests by opposition parties over alleged irregularities in voter lists, the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) has extended the timeline for publishing the draft electoral rolls for municipal corporations by a week.

Thane, India- 24 May 2017 :Voters searching their name in voter list at Nijampura polling booth for Bhiwandi-Nijampura corporation election at Bhiwandi in Thane, India on Wednesday May 24 2017.(Photo by Praful Gangurde/Hindustan Times) (Praful Gangurde)

The move is likely to push back the municipal election schedule across major cities, including Mumbai and Thane, by at least seven days. Civic elections in these cities were earlier expected to be held between January 15 and 20.

The SEC has postponed the publication of the ward-wise final voter lists to December 5, from the earlier deadline of November 28. Similarly, the period for filing suggestions and objections has been extended from November 14 to November 28, according to a statement issued by the SEC on Thursday.

“The corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), could not complete a thorough verification of the voters’ list after the recent ward boundary changes,” said an official from the urban development department.

Local bodies have also been directed to carry out verification drives to de-duplicate voter names. “Though duplicate names cannot be deleted, they are being flagged in coordination with polling booth officers to prevent bogus voting. Since corporation staff have better access to housing societies and are accountable for verification, the extension was granted based on their requests,” the official said.