Voting in the graduates’ and teachers’ polls: write ‘1’ with the violet sketch pen, and the mistakes that get a ballot rejected

Five Legislative Council seats go to the polls tomorrow, Friday 23 October, between 8 am and 4 pm: the Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) division graduates’ seats and the Amravati and Pune division teachers’ seats. There are no EVMs. Voters rank candidates on a ballot paper, in figures. Only one thing is required for a valid vote: the figure 1 against your first choice, written with the violet sketch pen supplied at the polling station. Every other preference is up to you.

At the booth, step by step

• The polling officer checks your name on the roll. You will not get a ballot paper until you sign or put your thumb impression on its counterfoil.
• A violet sketch pen comes with the ballot paper. Take it into the voting compartment and use nothing else: not your own pen, a ballpoint or a pencil.
• In the preference column, write 1 against the candidate you want most. Only one candidate can get a 1.
• If you wish, write 2, 3, 4 and so on against other candidates in order of preference. You may rank every candidate on the ballot, or none besides your first choice; the vote is still valid.
• Fold the ballot paper so that your vote cannot be seen, show the presiding officer its distinguishing mark if asked, and drop it into the ballot box.

How to write the figures

Rule 37A of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 says preferences must be figures, never words. You may use the international form of Indian numerals (1, 2, 3), Roman numerals (I, II, III) or the numerals of any Indian language, such as Devanagari १, २, ३. Writing “one”, “two” or एक, दोन does not count. Election officials have also made clear that a tick or a cross against a name is not a preference.

What makes a ballot invalid

At counting, Rule 73(2) requires a ballot paper to be rejected if:

• no candidate has been given a 1;
• the 1 appears against more than one candidate, or is placed so that it is unclear which candidate it is meant for;
• a candidate has the 1 and another figure against the same name;
• there is any mark or writing that could identify the voter. Returning officers say this includes your name, initials, signature or thumb impression;
• any figure has been written with something other than the pen supplied at the booth.

A slip in your later preferences

A mistake further down the order, such as giving two candidates a 2 or jumping from 2 to 4, does not void the whole ballot. Under Rule 71, though, the paper is treated as “exhausted” at that point: preferences up to the mistake are used, those after it are not. Number your choices in sequence and never repeat a figure.

Which identity document to carry

The Election Commission’s policy is that voters who have an Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) must show it at the polling station. In its orders for these elections, the Commission notes that graduates’ and teachers’ voters are also Assembly voters and so will usually already hold one. For those who cannot produce it, the Commission notifies a list of alternative documents for each election.

We could not find the Commission’s order for Maharashtra’s 2026 polls. Carry your EPIC. If you do not have one, check today with the divisional commissioner’s office (the returning officer) or your tehsil office which documents will be accepted.

Finding your name and polling station

• Only people on the separate electoral roll prepared for that graduates’ or teachers’ constituency can vote.
• On the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer’s search page, mahaelection.gov.in/Citizen/Search, choose Graduates’ or Teachers’. You can search by district, taluka and name, or by mobile number or application acknowledgement number.
• The result shows your polling station’s address, part number and serial number. Note both numbers down so polling staff can find you on the roll quickly.
• For the Pune division, the final rolls and polling station lists for both seats are on divcompune.maharashtra.gov.in.
• Nagpur divisional commissioner Vijayalakshmi Bidari has urged graduate voters to confirm their name and booth before polling day. If the search does not find you, contact your divisional commissioner’s office.

Before you leave home

• Polling runs from 8 am to 4 pm. Don’t leave it to the last hour.
• Expect a long ballot paper: 182 candidates are contesting the five seats, 47 of them in the Pune graduates’ seat alone. Decide your order at home.
• Write nothing on the ballot but the figures: no signature, no name, no other mark.
• Before you drop it in the box, check that the 1 is against one candidate only, that each candidate has no more than one figure, and that no figure is repeated.
• Pune division returning officer and divisional commissioner Sheetal Teli-Ugale has asked voters, especially first-time voters, to understand the method before they vote.

Sources: Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 (Rules 37A, 38A, 39A, 71, 73); Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra: voter search; Divisional Commissioner, Pune: Graduates’ and Teachers’ election 2026; Sarkarnama (Pune); Sarkarnama (voting method); eSakal (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar); Pudhari; The Live Nagpur; India TV