Pune: Officials blame urban voters’ apathy for poor show in polls | Pune News – Times of India

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[google-translator]

PUNE: Urban voter apathy was once again on complete display during Sunday’s Kasba Peth and Chinchwad bypolls, with both the constituencies managing to pull in just 50% electors. The lowest voting percentage (32%) in the Kasba Peth constituency was recorded at a polling booth in Ghorpade Peth, while for Chinchwad, it was a polling station in Sangvi, which recorded barely 31% turnout. In fact, the polling booth in Sangvi had registered the lowest voter turnout (34%) in the 2019 assembly elections too.
Political observers said most polling booths in both the constituencies registered around 30%-40% voter turnout. Election officials attributed the poor show to migration issues, lack of interest or poor awareness about elections. Some voters, who did not want to be identified, said they were not sure if they necessarily needed to vote in the bypolls. “I did not get my voters’ slip. Besides, I was not aware about these elections,” said a woman from Sadashiv Peth, who did not even know the candidates. A 65-year-old resident from Sangvi, who also didn’t exercise his right to vote, said, “There should have been aggressive voter awareness campaigns. The voters’ slips should have been distributed or messages sent out on phone to ensure higher voting.”
Areas like Wakad and Ravet did not see much voting in the Chinchwad assembly segment. “Citizens here work in IT firms and are aware of these bypolls. But, they chose not to vote,” said an election official. Former state election commissioner JS Saharia attributed the poor turnout to general urban voter apathy. “The only solution is to improve awareness and connect with people to ensure they vote.
We have always seen that rural voters put up a better show than their urban counterparts. We need to edu- cate and motivate people. We need to make them understand the value of each vote,” he said. State chief electoral officer Shrikant Deshpande said whi- le the polling percentage in the bypolls was close to that of the assembly elections, they had expected the numbers to im- prove in view of several pro- grammes for voters. “Normal- ly, it is observed that bypoll vo- ting percentage is lower as was seen in Khadakwasla in 2011 (32%) and the recent Andheri East bypoll (31%),” he said.

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