Over 600 Fake Votes Recorded in Pune’s Eight Urban Constituencies

Pune, 25th November 2024: A staggering 600+ fake (tender) votes were identified across eight urban constituencies in Pune during the Maharashtra Assembly Elections. In addition, 300 postal ballots were rejected during the counting process. Vadgaonsheri emerged as the constituency with the highest number of irregularities, with 162 fake votes and 65 invalid postal ballots. Kothrud followed, reporting 93 fake votes and 18 rejected postal ballots.

The District Election Administration has observed a rise in such incidents, especially since the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, with the Assembly polls further confirming this alarming trend.

Breakdown of Fake Votes by Constituency:

-Vadgaonsheri: 162 fake votes
-Kothrud: 93 fake votes
-Hadapsar: 78 fake votes
-Khadakwasla: 75 fake votes
-Parvati: 61 fake votes
-Shivajinagar: 49 fake votes
-Pune Cantonment: 49 fake votes
-Kasba Peth: 52 fake votes
Total: 619 fake votes

Fake voting occurs when a person casts a vote in someone else’s name before the rightful voter arrives at the polling station. In such cases, the real voter can still exercise their franchise by filing Form 17B and casting a tender vote, which is recorded separately but doesn’t influence the election outcome unless the margin of victory is very narrow.

Senior citizens, voters with disabilities, those above 85 years of age, and military personnel on duty are allowed to vote by post. This year, Pune saw over 34,000 postal ballots cast, including 1,000 ballots by military voters through the Electronic Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS).

However, out of these, 300 postal ballots were rejected due to errors. Vadgaonsheri again topped the list with 65 rejected ballots, followed by Hadapsar with 56 and Khadakwasla with 53.

Rejected Ballots by Constituency:

-Vadgaonsheri: 65
-Hadapsar: 56
-Khadakwasla: 53
-Shivajinagar: 41
-Parvati: 34
-Pune Cantonment: 34
-Kasba Peth: 20
-Kothrud: 18

Despite these irregularities, the wide margins of victory across constituencies meant that the fake votes and rejected ballots did not significantly affect the results. However, the increasing trend of fake voting raises concerns over electoral integrity in Pune and beyond.