Polling time for graduates' and teachers' constituency elections extended by 3 hours

MUMBAI: Given the long-pending demand from almost all prominent political parties, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the polling time for the biennial election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council for the Graduates' and the teachers' constituencies in the state by three hours.

The ECI decision comes days after political parties highlighted the issues likely to be faced by the voters on polling day due to limited hours for polling unlike in the general or assembly elections. The ECI has preponed the starting time of polling by an hour while it has extended the closure time by two hours thus matching the timings that exist for the general or assembly polls.

As per the ECI order dated June 3, 2024, the polling duration has been fixed between 7am and 6pm. Earlier, the polling duration was between 8am and 4pm. The voting for the Graduates and Teachers constituencies will take place on June 26, 2024.

Adv Anil Parab, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thakceray) party candidate for the Mumbai Graduates Constituencies, welcomed the ECI’s decision. “On May 28, we wrote to the ECI highlighting the issue that the timing is not suitable for the voters. Majority of them are working professionals who always prefer to vote either early in the morning or late in the evening,” said Parab, legislator and party leader.

He further said that there is no public holiday on the polling day for these elections. Hence, it becomes difficult for the voters to exercise their democratic right. They will be deprived of their constitutional right to vote which may lead to poor turnout in the elections. Hence, it was necessary to increase the polling timing,” Parab added.

BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said almost all parties were in favour of the same as even for a single voter the actual voting takes a longer time than in the general or assembly elections as all credentials are verified before casting the vote. And since the majority of the voters are working class, such an amendment in timings was much awaited, said Upadhye. On May 8, the Election Commission announced the elections for the four Legislative Council seats, namely Mumbai and Konkan Graduates and Nashik and Mumbai Teachers Constituencies.