Pune elections: Citizens must cast four votes in each ward

Election administration has clarified that citizens must cast all four votes in their respective wards, as each ward elects four corporators

PUNE: With preparations underway for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) elections, the election administration has clarified that voters must cast all four votes in their respective wards, as each ward elects four corporators. Voting will be treated as complete only when a voter selects candidates for all four seats; partial voting could lead to delays and confusion at polling booths, said officials. In ward number 38, voters need to select five candidates and cast their votes accordingly to complete the process.

Election administration has clarified that voters must cast all four votes in their respective wards, as each ward elects four corporators. ((PIC FOR REPRESENTATION))

Omprakash Divate, additional municipal commissioner and election officer, said, “Voters must ensure that they cast all four votes so that their participation is properly recorded and the polling process proceeds without disruption. If a voter presses the button for only one, two or three candidates, the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) will indicate that the voting process is incomplete. In such cases, the presiding officer is required to intervene to formally complete the process.”

“As per Election Commission guidelines, the presiding officer will call booth-level agents of all political parties outside the polling compartment and then press the NOTA (None of the Above) option for the remaining seats, while strictly maintaining the secrecy of the votes already cast,” Divate said.

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Officials said there is considerable confusion among voters due to the four-member ward system, particularly among those accustomed to casting a single vote in Assembly or Lok Sabha elections. Some voters mistakenly believe that casting fewer than four votes is acceptable or that the remaining votes will automatically be recorded as NOTA. However, the administration has stressed that voters must manually press the voting button four times—once for each seat marked A, B, C and D—for their vote to be fully registered.

To assist voters, PMC officials said the EVMs are colour-coded. The A machine is white, B is pink, C is yellow, and D is blue. In ward number 38, all four machines are of the same colour, with an additional green-coloured machine for seat E.

The PMC election process is expected to take longer than state or national elections, with officials estimating that each voter may take around 30 to 40 seconds to complete voting due to the requirement of selecting four candidates. Polling staff have been instructed to guide voters clearly, without influencing their choices, to help ensure a smooth process.