Jammu and Kashmir: The directives for electoral rolls

Jammu and Kashmir– the heaven of India, have always been a bone of contention for authorities in independent India. As a Union Territory, it has gone through innumerable fluctuations. Whether in terms of its geographical boundaries or enfranchisement to its citizens. Nevertheless, the region has started grabbing its deserving representation, especially after the abrogation of Article 370. One such development has started rooting the grounds with the revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir.

The revival of the right to vote in J&K

On June 29, the Election Commission ordered the special summary revision (SSR) of electoral rolls with October 1, 2022, as the qualifying date in Jammu and Kashmir. This is after a gap of three years, that the EC has started a revision of electoral rolls in J&K. It also came with an indication that polls will be held after the delimitation exercise.

The order came after Defense Minister Rajnath Singh announced that the Assembly elections will be held at the end of this year.

What will the revival of electoral rolls mean?

The revision of electoral rolls carries a significant role for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It is because the electoral rolls exercise is being held for the first time since the abrogation of the special status to the region of J&K.

Earlier, voting rights were only concentrated among the state subjects who are permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. On the other hand, the non-permanent residents were barred from the right to cast their votes. However, the recent revision of electoral rolls has allowed even the displaced people of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) to cast their votes. Previously, they were allowed to vote in the Parliamentary elections but not in the Assembly elections.

Besides this, the order included that as the electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir were not carried out for the past three years, the newly eligible voters could not register themselves for the upcoming election. In respect to this, the order read, “In view of the same, in order to update electoral roll on the basis of newly delimited constituencies, so that all newly eligible young electors can have the opportunity to get themselves enrolled, the exercise of Special Summary Revision with reference to the next qualifying date is required to be undertaken without further delay. In the above context, the commission has started pre-revision activities in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.”

The directives for electoral rolls

The Election Commission has set October 31 as the final date for publication of the revised electoral rolls. The publication of the draft of electoral rolls would be conducted on September 1. Apart from this, in light to provide an Aadhar number for the registration form, the EC said, “no application for inclusion of name in electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in electoral roll shall be deleted for the inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number.”

In the wake of conducting electoral rolls, the Delimitation Commission suggested additional seven constituencies in the region. Among these six are for Jammu and one for Kashmir. This will boost the total number of seats in the Union Territory from 83 to 90. The number of seats in Jammu has increased from 37 to 43 seats. For Kashmir value, this increase is from 46 to 47.

While specifying the order, EC said, “Consequent upon amendment in Section 14 of the Representation of the People Act by Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 and corresponding changes in the Registration of Electors Rule, 1960 as notified on 17 June 2022, four qualifying dates, namely, January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 are available in the law. The commission has decided to order SSR, 2022 with respect to October 1, 2022, which is the next qualifying date for the preparation of electoral roll, after the conclusion of the ongoing pre-revision activities.”

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has gone through various phases in its journey towards Democracy. Reason varied from bloodbaths to ideological inclinations, the people of the valley were time and again enforced to surrender their rights amid the political scuffle.

Nonetheless, after the abrogation of Article 370 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the people of Jammu and Kashmir tasted freedom and their right as citizens, which every other person in the country gets to experience.

The revision of electoral rolls and conducting of elections after a span of three years is a blessing in disguise for the people of valley. Elections in Jammu and Kashmir are going to be a refreshing change for people hit by terrorism.