Mumbai: According to the data provided by the Election Commission, the voter turnout in Mumbai was less than 50 percent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Interestingly, the average voter turnout at the national level was 67.77 percent, while at the state level was 61 percent.
There are more than 24 lakh voters in Mumbai city. A good number of voters here are largely from the elite group. Similarly, there are a large number of middle-class and poor voters in the city. The city consists of 10 legislative assemblies. Six of those assembly elections had less than 50 percent voter turnout.
Colaba is at the top of the list of assembly constituencies with the lowest voter turnout, followed by Mumbadevi, Dharavi, Byculla, Worli, and Sewri, followed by Wadala, Mahim, Malabar Hill, and Sion Koliwada.
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Reluctance to vote, not wanting to stand in a queue to vote, and enjoying the national holiday are some of the reasons behind lower voter turnout.
Measure taken to increase voter turnout:
- In the last two months, 17,000 new voters have been registered and the work is still going on.
- Polling stations on the first floor and above have been canceled so that senior citizens and differently-abled people do not have trouble voting.
- Meetings with the office bearers of the association of housing societies are being held to know their concerns and open the polling booths in that manner.
- The polling station has been kept within a radius of two kilometers.
- Pandal polling stations will be canceled and centers set up at designated places so that voters do not suffer from the heat.
"We are trying to figure out how to increase voting in Mumbai city. We are taking what measures can be taken to ensure that voters come to the polling booths and cast their votes. More than 20,000 employees are working hard for this. In addition, we are working on finding the reasons why voting is low and how to find answers. People feel that they won't be register their names after the elections are announced. However, by the end of April, citizens will be able to register as voters." - Sanjay Yadav, District Collector, Mumbai