BMC Elections 2026: Mumbai's Polling Stations Count Increased To 10,300 For Civic Polls, Voter Verification Drive Concludes

Mumbai: Mumbai is set to have 10,300 polling stations for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, marking an increase of 189 polling booths compared to the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections, when voting was conducted across 10,111 stations. Civic officials said the expansion aims to ensure smoother voting and better accessibility for voters within their respective ward boundaries.

Over 1 Cr Registered Voters Across 227 Wards

According to the final prabhag-wise voter list published by the BMC in mid-December, the city has an electorate of approximately 1.034 crore voters spread across 227 electoral wards. Officials said the increase in polling stations has been planned to ensure that voters cast their ballots within their own prabhags, as ward boundaries for civic polls differ from Assembly constituency limits.

With 10,300 polling stations planned, each booth is expected to cater to around 1,000 voters on average. Of the total polling stations, at least 700 will be located within residential complexes to improve convenience, especially for senior citizens and women voters.

“The Assembly constituencies are not congruent with the prabhags. Since prabhag boundaries are clearly demarcated, voters should ideally vote within their own wards,” a senior civic official said as quoted by The Indian Express. The official added that, as per Election Commission of India norms, voters will not be permitted to carry mobile phones inside polling booths.

Meanwhile, the BMC has concluded its large-scale door-to-door verification drive aimed at identifying duplicate voter entries. Officials said that out of 11.01 lakh entries initially flagged as suspected duplicates, only about 15 per cent, around 1.68 lakh entries, were found to be genuine duplicate records.

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Data shared by the civic body showed that officials visited the homes of nearly 1.28 lakh voters during the verification exercise. Of these, 48,628 voters filled and submitted Annexure-01 forms, while 78,105 either refused to fill the forms or were found to be non-existent at the listed addresses.

With the civic elections scheduled for January 15, 2026, the BMC is now preparing to train staff deployed for election duties. Training sessions will be conducted between December 29 and January 5, covering the model code of conduct, voting procedures, counting processes and emergency protocols. Civic officials warned that criminal action would be initiated against staff members who fail to attend mandatory training sessions.

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