To avoid chaos, poll panel eases norms

Voting will become a bit easier when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) goes to the polls next year.

Voting will become a bit easier when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) goes to the polls next year.

HT Image

To avoid chaos at polling booths on voting day, the state election commission (SEC) has decided to relax norms pertaining to the number of voters for every polling booth. Besides, it will allow polling booths to be set up on the first or second floor in buildings that have a lift facility. Up to now, polling booths could be set up only on the ground floor.

Chand Goyal, additional chief secretary in the state election commission, told Hindustan Times: "We have decided to relax the mandate of allowing only 1,000 voters per booth. It can now go up to 1,200."

The civic body was in a quandary over the SEC's guidelines to have one polling booth per 1,000 voters. Civic officials pointed out that there would be chaos on voting day as voters would tend to go to booths they have been going to in the past, and would then have to be redirected to new booths.