MUMBAI, Jan. 16 -- From 7.30 am till 6 pm, citizens across Mumbai stepped in to mobilise voters and resolve last-minute hurdles during the BMC elections. Volunteers from housing societies in Ghatkopar, citizen groups in Govandi and the western suburbs and others spent the day helping voters locate their names, identify polling booths and navigate technical glitches that threatened to keep many away from the ballot. In Ghatkopar, members of Sagar Park Cooperative Housing Society began assisting voters as early as 6.30 am, continuing till around 5.30 pm. Residents reported missing names, changed ward numbers and mismatches between voter ID details and electoral rolls. "Many people were unable to find their names for nearly an hour. Wards had changed, names were missing or appeared differently on the list," said volunteers assisting outside the society premises. Society secretary Dinesh Hule said that a team of over 15 residents worked through the day, checking names online and coordinating via calls. "We have been doing this for municipal elections for nearly 20 years. Everyone should vote, and awareness is important," he said. According to Hule, more than 200 residents approached the group with queries, of which around 75 were resolved successfully, enabling voters to cast their vote. "If society members voted and returned, we also offered food and snacks. This is our duty," he added, noting that preparations for the exercise began nearly 15 days in advance. Similar citizen-led efforts were seen in Govandi, Mankhurd and Shivajinagar, where first-time voters were a significant proportion of those at the polling stations. Faiyaz Alam Sheikh, founder of the Govandi Citizens Welfare Forum, said that volunteers focused on encouraging residents to step out and vote. "Whoever they vote for is their choice but voting matters," he said. "We canvassed door to door, getting people out and ensured that they cast their vote. In civic elections, even one or two votes can make a difference." Sheikh also flagged confusion at polling stations, particularly among first-time voters. "There were issues with machines, slips and name markings. In one case, a first-time voter's name was already ticked." In the western suburbs, volunteers from different networks coordinated remotely as official portals faced outages. Sanjeev D'Souza, H West ward coordinator of Action for Good Governance and Networking in India, said their team assisted voters by identifying polling booths using available electoral rolls. "We did not set up desks, but volunteers stayed available on calls," he said. "The State Election Commission portal was down for long periods and restored intermittently. We helped wherever possible." The Mumbai North Central District Federation mobilised its network to push voter participation. "Our flying squad and core committee campaigned locally, shared data through platforms like mumbaitracker.in and circulated it in neighbourhood groups. We also handed over citizens' charters to candidates today, urging them to commit to these demands," said MNCDF founder Trivan Kumar Karnani. Hemal Mehta, chairperson of the Santacruz East Residents Association (SERA), said that social pressure was also used to encourage turnout. "We urged members to boycott shopkeepers who did not vote and asked citizens to share photographs of their ink-marked fingers. Days before polling, we had taken pledges from candidates on our civic charter and reminded residents that these facilities cannot be demanded if people do not vote," she said. Santy Shetty, founder of the Kandivali-Malad citizen forum We All Connect, said that volunteers worked with citizens all day. "We campaigned on social media, promoted voting and highlighted candidates working on civic and security issues," he said....