The civic elections are being held after long delays and are being seen as crucial for urban local bodies, especially the high-profile BMC and other major cities in Maharashtra
Voting will take place under tight security, and the counting of votes is scheduled for Friday. Representational Pic/File/AFP
The voters, election officials and political parties are making final preparations ahead of polling for the BMC Election 2026 and other municipal elections across Maharashtra on Thursday.
Polling arrangements have been completed, with officials finalising booth readiness, security deployment and voter facilitation measures.
Political parties and candidates wrapped up last-minute campaigning on Wednesday, appealing to voters on local issues such as civic services, infrastructure and governance.
The civic elections, being held after long delays in many cities, are seen as crucial for urban local bodies, especially the high-profile BMC.
Voting will take place under tight security, and the counting of votes is scheduled for Friday.
In Mumbai, the police have made elaborate security and traffic arrangements for smooth voting in the city.
"Special arrangements are made in sensitive areas of Mumbai," said an official.
Polling on Jan 15 and vote counting on Jan 16
Polling will take place on Thursday for elections to 29 municipal corporations across Maharashtra, including the high-profile Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mumbai. The counting of votes is scheduled for Friday, January 16.
Although elections were initially notified for 2,869 seats, 68 candidates have already been elected unopposed. As a result, voting will be held for the remaining 2,801 seats.
The list of civic bodies going to the polls includes two newly created municipal corporations including Jalna and Ichalkaranji as well as major cities such as Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik and Navi Mumbai.
Many of these civic bodies have been run by administrators after their elected terms expired between 2020 and 2023.
Different voting systems across regions
Mumbai will follow a single-member ward system, under which each voter will cast one vote to elect a representative from their ward.
In contrast, the remaining 28 municipal corporations will use a multi-member ward system, with most wards electing four representatives.
Polling arrangements in place
The State Election Commission (SEC) has made extensive arrangements for the polls, catering to around 3.48 crore eligible voters.
Across Maharashtra, 39,147 polling stations have been set up, equipped with 43,958 Control Units and 87,916 Ballot Units.
In Mumbai alone, there are 10,111 polling stations, with 11,349 Control Units and 22,698 Ballot Units.
Measures to prevent electoral malpractices
The SEC has used Assembly electoral rolls as of July 1, 2025, for the municipal elections. Possible duplicate names in ward-wise voter lists have been marked with double asterisks, and such voters have been pre-verified through door-to-door checks.
Voters whose names are marked but who have not been pre-verified will be required to submit a written undertaking and valid identity proof before being allowed to vote.
Voter assistance and special facilities
The SEC has launched a mobile application, available on the Google Play Store, to help voters locate their names on the electoral roll, find polling stations and access candidate details using their name or EPIC (Voter ID) number.
Priority will be given to senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant women and mothers with infants.
To ensure secrecy of voting and prevent disputes, mobile phones have been strictly prohibited inside polling booths.
Earlier, the SEC had stated that polling stations have been mandated to provide ramps and wheelchairs.
In areas with a high turnout of women voters, special “Pink Booths” have been set up, staffed entirely by women election officials and police personnel, it had stated.
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