This election, take the e-way to locate BMC poll booths

Considering that the number of polling booths for the February 2012 civic elections is set to nearly double due to the new election commission guidelines, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is seeking the help of technology to ensure voters are not left hunting for their ballot boxes.

Considering that the number of polling booths for the February 2012 civic elections is set to nearly double due to the new election commission guidelines, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is seeking the help of technology to ensure voters are not left hunting for their ballot boxes.

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The municipal corporation is therefore rolling out three services — on the web, SMS, and phone — which can be used to not only locate booths, but also registration numbers and ward information.

The state election commission’s (SEC) has recommended one polling booth for every 1,000 voters, which means over 11,000 booths will be needed for the 2012 elections — 6,792 in 2007 — as the electorate has crossed the one crore mark this time, compared to 83.88 lakh in the last civic polls.

While the SMS service and the helpline are already operational, a geo-tagged map of all sanctioned polling booths in the city will be made available on the civic body’s website, mcgm.gov.in, by December 31, after the list is approved by the SEC.