Election staff don’t vote

A majority of the 41,000 government and civic staff deputed on election duty in the city could not vote in Thursday’s poll because they failed to avail of the postal ballot system, said sources in the election administration.

A majority of the 41,000 government and civic staff deputed on election duty in the city could not vote in Thursday’s poll because they failed to avail of the postal ballot system, said sources in the election administration.

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The number of these voters, would have impacted the poll results in their respective wards. An official, who worked at a south Mumbai polling station, said he did not use the facility.

“I could not spare time from official work. I am sure there were many who did not know about this.”

“The employees willing to use the postal ballot have to fill in a form well in advance,” said a senior official. State election commissioner Neela Satyanarayan blamed the failure on the election officer, who in Mumbai’s case is the civic commissioner.

“I strongly believe it was election officer’s duty to sensitise the staff.”