Maha SEC directs municipal corporations to detect duplicate voters in electoral rolls

Mumbai, Dec 4 The Maharashtra State Election Commissioner (SEC) Dinesh Waghmare on Thursday instructed 29 Municipal Commissioners to conduct a strict and rigorous search for potential duplicate voters in the electoral rolls for the upcoming civic body polls.

He emphasised that high vigilance must be maintained even during the actual polling process. He was speaking at the online meeting with the Municipal Commissioners regarding the electoral rolls, especially amid protests by opposition parties over duplicate votes and other discrepancies in the electoral rolls.

SEC Waghmare, who was accompanied by the Commission secretary Suresh Kakani, directed that, in addition to scrutinising for duplicates, all objections and suggestions received on the draft voter lists must be verified and disposed of in a timely manner.

"If any errors are noticed in preparing the ward-wise voter lists, corrective action should be taken proactively by the corporation itself, without waiting for a formal complaint," the SEC said.

SEC Waghmare noted that the deadline for filing objections and suggestions on the draft voter lists was December 3, 2025, and the final electoral rolls are scheduled for publication on December 10, 2025.

He asked the concerned Municipal Corporations to publish the list of potential duplicate voters on their notice board and official website. Potential duplicate names are indicated with two stars in the voter list, and action should proceed as per the SEC's order dated October 29, 2025, said the release issued by the SEC.

He further directed that the concerned municipal corporations should issue an appeal to these flagged voters to declare at which specific polling station they intend to cast their vote.

“Upon receiving a response, the voter must fill out a prescribed application form specifying their chosen polling station. They will then be restricted to voting only at that specified centre. If a potential duplicate voter arrives at a polling centre without having submitted the application, they will be permitted to vote only after providing a prescribed undertaking confirming they have not voted at any other centre. This permission will be granted only after their identity is strictly confirmed alongside the submission of the undertaking,” said the release.

Secretary Suresh Kakani clarified that, as per the provisions of the relevant local body laws, the Assembly Constituency voter list prepared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) is utilised as is for all local body elections. It is only divided on a ward-wise basis for Municipal Corporation elections. He explained that for these polls, the State Election Commission has decided to use the Assembly Constituency lists that were in existence on the notified date of July 1, 2025. During the ward-wise division process, the names and addresses of the voters are kept exactly as they appear in the original Assembly Constituency list.

SEC’s move comes days after Shiv Sena UBT, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Congress and NCP SP have been stepping up attacks against the SEC over the inclusion of duplicate voters in the electoral rolls.

Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray, two days ago, launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission(EC), questioning whether they are "running a circus" after massive irregularities were found in Mumbai's draft voter list released on November 20.

Speaking to reporters, Thackeray highlighted numerous discrepancies in the voter rolls across Mumbai's 227 wards, stating that his party has filed 3,000 to 4,000 objections.

Aaditya Thackeray pointed out that party legislator Sunil Govind Shinde's name appears seven times in the voter list with different ages and photographs. Similarly, former mayor Shraddha Jadhav's name appears eight times, while the names of Congress legislator Jyoti Gaikwad and party MP Anil Desai also appear as duplicate entries.

“The Election Commission has shown 14 lakh duplicate voters that will be removed. Our legislators’ name is listed seven times with different ages and photos. Is the Election Commission making a mockery of this? Are you running a circus?” he questioned.

He claimed that 5.86 lakh people are registered as duplicate voters, with many Marathi voters' names appearing multiple times. He alleged that some duplicate entries are not marked with a star symbol for identification. He raised concerns about deceased voters remaining on the list despite the submission of death certificates, questioning whether proxy voting is occurring in their names.

“In many cases, the names marked by EC as repeated aren’t repeated and in fact are common Marathi names, with real different people. Whereas, there are approximately 50,000 names that are repeated, but not marked by the EC as repeated. Voters who have been long dead have been present through voter lists in Vidhan Sabha polls, and some have even voted. In every ward, for every booth, we have made a list of such voters, with proof. What will the EC do with this entire list? Will they allow proxy voting? Most Shocking,” said Aaditya Thackeray.

--IANS

sj/dan

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