Voting for Municipal Corporations across Maharashtra began at 7.30 a.m. on Thursday amid widespread administrative lapses and technical problems, causing delays and confusion at several polling stations. The glitches affected voters in multiple cities, including a state minister who was forced to spend nearly an hour locating his polling booth.

Forest Minister Ganesh Naik faced repeated hurdles before he could finally cast his vote in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. After visiting two polling stations where his name was missing from the voters’ list, Naik, along with his family members, eventually found their names registered at St. Mary’s High School in Koparkhairane. However, the names of his nephew, former mayor Sagar Naik, and his wife were listed at a separate polling centre, forcing the family to vote at different locations.

Expressing displeasure over the situation, Naik blamed the State Election Commission (SEC) for what he described as poor planning and execution. “If a minister like me has to run around to find his name on the voters’ list, one can imagine the difficulties faced by ordinary citizens,” he said.

Similar complaints poured in from across the state, with voters reporting missing names, non-functional Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and unresponsive buttons. In several polling stations in Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, voting began late due to faulty machines, triggering public anger over the conduct of the polls.

In Mira-Bhayandar, many voters were seen moving from one area to another in search of their designated booths, allegedly due to inadequate voter awareness campaigns.

In Mumbai’s Lalbaug area, polling at Chivda Galli was delayed by nearly 30 minutes after an EVM failed to function, prompting Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sudhir Salvi to criticise the inconvenience caused to voters.

Voters at Pant Walawalkar School in Kamgar Nagar, Kurla, complained of unhelpful polling staff and sudden changes in booth numbers and polling centres without prior intimation, adding to the confusion.

In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, polling at Gujarati Kanya Vidyalaya was disrupted for almost an hour after an EVM malfunctioned, leaving long queues of voters waiting outside. Similar delays were reported in Solapur’s Sangameshwar Public School, where voting resumed only after a 45-minute interruption.

In Nagpur, polling in Ward 28 at GRK Convent in Aradhana Nagar was held up for around 40 minutes due to a technical fault, with voting commencing only after the EVM was replaced.

The widespread disruptions have raised questions over the preparedness of the State Election Commission, even as voter turnout remained steady in several areas despite the early setbacks.