First-time voters remained enthusiastic, some confused about casting votes four times

Enthusiasm was palpable in Sewri where many young voters turned out to exercise their franchise. Around 1 pm at a polling centre in Sewri, a group of four neighbours–all first-time voters in the local body polls–arrived to cast their votes amid excitement. Among them, Mayuri Mane (22), a first-time voter who works in IT sector said, “We have decided to cast our votes on the basis of the promises laid out by the candidates.”

Meanwhile, several first-time voters also experienced confusion particularly in municipal corporations like Navi Mumbai where voters had to cast votes on four separate machines owing to the four-member ward system.

“We had a panel system of voting. Already there was no adequate level of awareness about it. But despite watching explanatory videos, eventually there was confusion while voting,” said Dhanashree Kulkarni, who voted in Navi Mumbai’s Sewri area. However, she flagged the lack of sufficient initiatives targeted for college students in political manifestoes. “Forget about academics, even there were no administrative and other day-to-day facilities such as separate windows for discounted railway-pass for students etc. All tall promises are about big-ticket infrastructure projects which are not always directly beneficial for us students,” she said.

Ali Nawaz, who voted for the first time, said that initially he had to move from one polling booth to the other as his name was not in the polling list at St Bosco polling centre in Mumbra where his father and brother’s name was found. “Apart from the initial hassle though, I was excited to vote for four candidates in one go. I had some confusion on how to go about it but the polling officer was helpful. All in all, it was a good experience,” he said.

However, some first-timers also returned dejected as they found their names missing from the voters’ list at the polling station. Kritika (22), a resident of Dharavi said, “Being densely populated, there are many issues in Dharavi particularly around cleanliness and redevelopment. I was very excited to vote, but I couldn’t find my name on the physical list at my designated polling booth.”