Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The election administration of the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) has appealed to all eligible voters, including first-time voters and senior citizens, to exercise their right by casting votes for all four candidates in their respective prabhag. Failure to do so would require election officials to complete the process to ensure the vote is treated as valid. As reported earlier, the Municipal Corporation is conducting its general elections for the first time under the prabhag system.
Replying to a query raised by alert citizens, what should be done if a voter casts only one or two votes and refuses to cast the remaining votes, the deputy commissioner (election) Vikas Navale said, “ Every voter will have to cast votes for four candidates in his/her prabhag. Unless all four votes are cast, the voting process will not be considered complete. The State Election Commission (SEC) in its guidelines stated, the presiding officer at the polling station should cast the remaining votes as NOTA (None of the Above), in the presence of representatives of the concerned candidates.”
Delimiting 115 wards, the civic administration has formed 29 prabhags, out of which, 28 will have four corporators each, while the one (29th) will have three corporators. As the CSMC is holding elections under the prabhag system for the first time, there is confusion among voters regarding the voting process, therefore, the civic administration has decided to undertake voter awareness initiatives.
Navale said, “Casting four votes is mandatory. They should exercise the right awarded to them by election administration. If a voter casts only one vote on EVM (of his choice candidate or category) and refuses to cast the remaining three votes to candidates of other three categories (or press NOTA), the presiding officer, in the presence of polling agents, is authorised to cast the remaining votes by pressing NOTA or END button. After all four votes are cast, a beep will sound, and only then will the voter’s polling process be completed. This has to be mentioned in the Presiding Officer Diary.”
Meanwhile, political parties have also expressed concerns that voting may take more time, as each voter is required to cast four votes. Therefore, all candidates are expected to focus on maximising voter turnout during the morning and afternoon sessions. The candidates or parties will have to make strategic planning to achieve the cent percent polling target, said political experts.