The Election Commission of India (ECI) has declared the poll schedule for the upcoming assembly elections. The Pune district administration has swung into action and initiated the preparations for the assembly elections.
Pune district has 87,57,426 voters registered as of October 15, 2024, out of which 45,37,692 are male, 42,18,940 are female voters and 794 transgender voters. While Pune leads in the transgender voter registration with Vadgaonsheri leading with 102 transgender voters the city registered almost 1,65,239 first-time voters.
Pune has one of the highest numbers of voters in the state with 21 assembly constituencies out of which 11 in urban and 10 in rural assembly constituencies. Junnar, Ambegaon, Khed Alandi, Shirur, Daund, Indapur, Baramati, Purandar, Bhor and Maval are the rural assembly constituencies while Chinchwad, Pimpri, Bhosari, Vadgaon Sheri, Shivajinagar, Kothrud, Khadakwasla, Parvati, Hadapsar, Pune Cantonment and Kasbapeth are the urban assembly constituency.
The Pune district administration has decided to provide a ‘Vote From Home’ facility for voters above 85 years of age and for persons with disabilities (Pwd) with 40% benchmark disability. Volunteers and wheelchairs at polling stations will be provided for the elderly and PwD. The civic administration has urged the voters to download the ‘Saksham’ app to avail of PwD and elderly facilities at the polling stations.
The voters can download the Voter Help Application (VHA) on their mobile phones to apply for voter registrations online till October 19, while the voter can also search their names, view polling booth details, connect with booth-level officers and even download E-Election Photo Identity Card using the application.
Pune District Collector Dr Suhash Divse has appealed to the voters to search their names in the electoral voter's list to avoid any last-minute hassle. Pune witnessed low voter turnout in the Lok Sabha 2024 with only 51.25% voter turnout with almost 60,000 complaints of missing names in voters’ lists.
The civic administration has decided to provide the voter slips online in advance to avoid any hassle as it may be possible that the names may get swapped.
District Collector Suhash Divse stated that the district administration is focusing on housing societies and townships to tackle urban apathy as the ECI has decided to polling day on Wednesday to encourage maximum voter turnout.
Pune District Collector Suhas Divse while addressing the media said, “The district administration is on its toes and trying every possible step to encourage the voters to come out and vote. This time we will make sure the voters won't have to wait in long queues and do not face any hassle at the polling stations.”
District Collector Dr. Suhas Divse added, “ The Election Commission of India has emphasized making the voting experience pleasant and easy for the voters and accordingly the District Election Administration will work strictly to implement that. Drinking water, toilets, ramps, assistance to elderly voters, wheelchairs for the disabled etc. will be provided at the polling station and queue management, pavilions for shade, separate queues for women voters, blind and senior voters, care centre for infants, medical facilities will be provided by the district administration.”
Pune will have 8417 pooling stations with 32 thousand Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and 72 thousand pooling and security staff deployed for smooth and safe polling.
Opportunity to apply for voter registration till October 19
There are 87 lakh 57 thousand 426 registered voters in 21 constituencies in the Pune district, and the district administration has decided October 19 is the cut-off date to apply for voter registrations.
Pune District Collector Suhas Divse appealed to the eligible citizens to register their names in the voter's list. Dr Divse stated that there are 8 thousand 417 polling stations in the district and there can be an increase of 50 to 60 auxiliary polling stations.
District Collector Dr Diwase stated that the citizens could use the C Vigil app to bring to light any wrongdoing during the polling period. The civic administration has deployed Stationary Survey Teams (SST) and Mobile Survey Teams (FST) systems to monitor the use of election money, confiscation of narcotics, liquor, and precious metals, validation of election campaign advertisements and other processes.