Mumbai: BMC Intensifies Voter Verification as Massive Duplicate Entries Surface Ahead of 2025 Civic Polls

In preparation for the upcoming Mumbai civic elections, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has begun an extensive door-to-door verification drive to remove duplicate names from the draft voter list. However, officials report that resistance from some residents and housing societies is slowing down the process.

The BMC emphasised that the verification is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the electoral rolls and urged citizens to cooperate fully. Once a voter with multiple entries is confirmed to be the same person, their preferred polling station will be finalised.

To ensure smoother coordination, the civic body will soon issue formal notices to housing society chairpersons and secretaries, instructing them to assist election staff. This verification 

exercise forms a key part of the preparations for the BMC’s 2025 general elections, with officials appealing to residents to support Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during home visits.

According to the State Election Commission, the draft ward-wise voter list highlights suspected duplicates with a double asterisk (**). BLOs are now meticulously cross-checking these entries using voters’ names, gender, photographs, and addresses to determine whether the entries belong to one individual or different people. If a match is confirmed, BLOs must directly contact the voter to verify their identity and collect a form indicating the polling booth of their choice.

While over one million duplicate entries have been detected across Mumbai’s electoral rolls, official data reveals that about 4.33 lakh names have been replicated—many more than twice. In one extreme instance, a single voter’s name appeared an astonishing 103 times.