Maharashtra Local Body Polls Announced: Voting on 2 December, Counting on 3 December

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Election Commission has announced the dates for local body elections. State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare stated on Tuesday that voting will take place in 246 municipal councils and 42 municipal councils on December 2, 2025, with counting taking place on December 3. With the announcement of election schedule, the code of conduct has come into effect in the respective areas. Voting Will Be Held For 6,859 Member And 288 Chairperson Positions Waghmare informed that voting will be held for a total of 6,859 member and 288 chairperson positions in this election. This time, voting will be conducted entirely through electronic voting machines (EVMs). There are a total of 17 million eligible voters in the state, including 5,379,931 men, 5,322,870 women, and 775 other voters. Maharashtra Local Body Polls Introduce Double Voting System for Eligible Voters Details of Reserved Seats According to the Election Commission, 13,355 polling stations have been set up for voting. Out of a total of 3,820 wards- 3,492 seats are reserved for women, 895 seats for Scheduled Castes (SC), 338 seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST), 1,821 seats for Other Backward Classes (OBC) 66,775 personnel will be deployed on election duty The Commission has launched special websites for conducting the elections: For filing nominations and affidavits: https://mahasecelec.in To view voter lists and centers: https://mahasecvoterlist.in Waghmare said that 13,726 EVM control units and 27,452 ballot units have been prepared for the elections. Approximately 66,775 employees will be on election duty, including 288 returning officers. Nomination Process and Deadline The last date for filing nomination papers has been set for November 17th. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on November 18th. Withdrawals will be possible until November 21st. The final list of candidates and election symbols will be released on November 26th. Voting will be based on the voter list as of July 1st, 2025, although a proposal to update it by October is under consideration. As per the Supreme Court's directive, the entire election process is to be completed by January 31st, 2026. Maharashtra govt mandates annual disclosure of employees with disabilities; Know why Opposition Questions on Voter List Regarding the opposition's complaints about duplicate names in the voter list, Waghmare said that such cases have been identified. Voters whose names appear in two places will be marked with a "double asterisk ()**." At the polling station, they will be asked to provide a written undertaking that they have not cast their vote elsewhere. Waghmare said that the district administration and municipal bodies have been instructed to intensify voter awareness campaigns so that the voting percentage can increase.