Lok Sabha elections 2024: Queues could be thing of the past for Mumbai City voters

The press conference held at the Old Custom House at Fort

Voters in Mumbai City may not have to wait in queues while exercising their franchise. The district collector, Sanjay Yadav, said, "We are considering starting a waiting room and token system for voters. The district election commission is also working on increasing the voter turnout."

At a press conference on Wednesday at the Old Custom House at Fort, Yadav said, as per the Election Commission's guidelines. citizens above 85 years and the handicapped who can walk can vote at their doorstep. Mobile voting machines will be provided. There are around 55,000 voters who have crossed the age of 85 in the city area. We will give them form 12B. If they are willing to cast their vote from home, they need to fill out this form. If they want to vote at the voting centre, they can come and vote," he added.

Yadav said, "There will be roofs as well as waiting rooms at polling centres. We will give a token to voters so they can wait until their turn comes," Yadav said. "Also, we have decided to arrange for polling centres in certain housing societies. We have identified around 67 such societies. In the whole state, there will be around 127 polling booths in housing societies," Yadav stated. The national voter turnout was around 67 per cent in the 2019 general election while in Mumbai City, the figure was 48 per cent.

Yadav appealed to citizens to enrol for voting. "Citizens can enrol even now. The final voter list will be published after April 26, 2023," Yadav said. There are 24,59,443 voters in Mumbai City. The South Central seat is split between the island city and suburbs. Dharavi, Sion Koliwada, Wadala and Mahim are in the former section while Anushakti Nagar and Chembur are in the suburban part of the constituency.

67%
National voter turnout in 2019