Out of 1.03 crore voters of Mumbai, about 10.64 percent i.e. more than 11 lakh voters have their names registered more than once in the voter list. This information was given in the data shared by the State Election Commission (SEC). The data also shows that the wards with the highest number of ‘duplicate’ entries were previously represented by opposition councillors.
The SEC on Wednesday extended the last date for filing objections from November 27 to December 3. According to the statement issued by Maharashtra State Election Commission, the final voter list will be published on December 10. In the recently released draft voter list, 4.33 lakh such voters have been found, whose names have been registered from two to 103 times. With this, the total number of ‘duplicate’ entries has increased to 11,01,505.
SEC has given reasons for repetition of names like printing error, voters moving to other places and not removing the names of dead people. Officials said booth level workers will now make field visits, fill forms and undertake verification to ensure that each voter’s name appears in the list only once.An SEC official said that Mumbai’s civic elections, which were to be completed by January 31, 2026 as per the Supreme Court’s direction, may be slightly delayed.That said, depending on the pace of reforms by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the elections could either be held by the end of January or the SEC may seek extension till the first week of February.
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The SEC data further shows that four of the five wards with the highest number of duplicate voters were earlier represented by opposition corporators from parties like Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP). Two of these wards fall within the Worli Assembly seat, which is represented by Sena (UBT) MLA Aditya Thackeray. Opposition leaders have alleged irregularities in the ongoing changes in the voter list.
In a post onHe warned that refusing to extend the time for suggestions and objections would cast doubt on the fairness of the election process.
Ward number 199 of Worli, which was earlier represented by former mayor and Sena (UBT) leader Kishori Pednekar, has the highest number of duplicate voters at 8,207. According to SEC data, after this there are 7,741 duplicate entries in ward number 131 of Ghatkopar, 7,624 in ward 203 of Parel-Lalbagh, 7,585 in ward 205 of Kalachowki, and 7,584 duplicate voters in ward 194 of Century Mill.
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Meanwhile, civic officials said the work to remove duplicate names is still underway. A senior BMC official clarified that the figure of 11 lakh reflects the number of repeat entries and not any one person. Also, the Municipal Corporation is doing door-to-door checking to clear the rolls.
All 25 assistant municipal commissioners have been made nodal officers for the reform work, which will run from November 27 to December 5. After this the final voter list is expected to be published.
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