90 pc voters confused over how to vote

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

For the municipal corporation elections, candidates from all political parties as well as independents have launched an intensive campaign. Most candidates are focusing on rallies, marches, and door-to-door visits to meet voters. They hand out pamphlets about what they plan to do for the prabhag and then move on.

However, nobody is explaining how to vote on January 15. Observations by the newspaper reveal that 90 per cent of voters are confused about how to cast their four votes.

The municipal corporation elections are being held after a gap of 10 years, which has created immense curiosity among voters. Voting will take place in the city under the prabhag-based system for the first time, and most voters have no idea how the process works.

At the polling station, the first vote is for a candidate of one party, the second vote for another party’s candidate, but voters are confused about who to give the third and fourth votes to. Many voters don’t even know their prabhag number or where their polling station is located.

Campaigning Challenges

The election period is very short, and the prabhags are very large, making it difficult for candidates to reach a large number of voters. Many candidates are relying entirely on social media reels for campaigning. Most candidates are also not informing voters about where and how to cast their votes.

Many voters have questions like: “I only want to cast two or three votes, or maybe not vote at all—what should I do?” This has created confusion and doubt among the electorate.

Although the State Election Commission (SEC) has instructed the municipal corporation to conduct voter awareness campaigns, these efforts have been limited. There is a need for more extensive voter education.

Questions Causing Confusion

What exactly is the prabhag-based system?

Why do voters have to cast four votes?

Will there be four EVMs at each polling booth?

If a voter presses all four buttons or only casts 2–3 votes, will their vote be invalid?

How should a voter keep track of which of the four candidates from their party is in which prabhag, on which machine, and in which serial number?

How can senior citizens or less-educated voters be guided properly?