Despite several initiatives taken up by the Election Commission and affiliated NGOs, only 6.35 percent of the population between 18 and 19 years of age in Maharashtra have registered as first-time voters this year. As for Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's data on the number of births in Mumbai in 2000 which is a conservative estimate of the current population in the 18-19 years bracket, points to only 38 percent of them being listed in the electoral rolls.

Of the 94.6 lakh registered voters in Mumbai district, only 75,614 are first-time voters. Officials of the Election Commission find this a worrying sign since they had expected the number to be significantly higher. "We had reached out to all the colleges in Mumbai and given them forms to be handed out to students who are eligible to vote. However, many of the forms we received were not from the city and they have been forwarded to the relevant offices. This year, we had expected to get at least 22 to 23 lakh first-time voters across the state to be listed in the electoral roll," said an official of the Election Commission for Mumbai City.