KASHMIR VOTER’S LIST

CONTEXT

The J&K  Chief Electoral Officer, Hirdesh Kumar, announced that anyone "who is living ordinarily in J&K can avail the opportunity to get enlisted as a voter in the Union Territory following the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

He said that many people who were not enlisted as voters in the erstwhile state of J&K are now eligible to vote after the reading down of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. The Election Commission of India was expecting an addition of 20-25 lakh new voters in the final list in J&K

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO VOTE

Armed forces posted in J&K could also register as voters and could participate in the first-ever assembly polls in the youngest Union Territory

The existing electoral roll is being mapped into the newly delimited assembly constituencies as per the Delimitation Commission’s final order made applicable by the Union Law Ministry with effect from May 20, 2022

 WHY ARE ELECTORAL ROLLS BEING REVISED

• The ECI is working on fresh electoral rolls in J&K after the J&K Delimitation Commission earlier this year carved out seven new Assembly constituencies in the UT, six going to the Jammu division and one to Kashmir, under the Jammu &Kashmir Reorganization Act adopted in 2019.
• Jammu now has 43 seats against 47 in Kashmir.
• The Delimitation Commission has re-drawn many constituencies and fresh electoral rolls are essential to prepare the ground for any announcement of elections in J&K, where the last Assembly elections took place in 2014.
• In the latest move, the ECI has decided that it will also include any person who has attained the age of 18 years on or before October 1, 2022, in the fresh electoral rolls. The final electoral roll would be published on November 25.

WHAT DID CEO ANNOUNCE

• According to Chief Election Officer, there is no need for a person to have a domicile certificate of J&K to become a voter.
• An employee, a student, a labourer, or anyone from outside who is living ordinarily in J&K can enlist his or her name on the voting list.
• Armed forces from different parts of the country "have the option that if they are posted in a peace station they can enlist themselves as voters. Jammu is a peace station and anyone from outside posted in the armed forces in the city can avail of the option to enlist as a voter.
• Around 25 lakh new voters are expected to be enrolled in J&K, which has 76 lakh voters on the list.
• After the abrogation of Special provisions of Article 370, the Representation of the People Act 1950 and 1951  is applicable in J&K, which allows ordinarily residing persons to get registered in the electoral rolls of J&K" provided he or she gets their name deleted from the electoral roll of his or her native constituency.

 THE J&K ROLLS REVISED BEFORE 2019

Before August 5, 2019, when J& K had special constitutional powers, the Assembly electoral rolls in the state were drawn up according to the Jammu & Kashmir Representation of the People Act 1957, wherein only Permanent Residents  Certificate and domicile certificates had to be shown.

Several lakh residents from West Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, who had migrated to J& K and been living there for decades, had no voting rights in Assembly elections till August 5, 2019, but were able to vote in the parliamentary elections

WHAT IS THE ISSUE

J& K's main regional parties, including the National Conference, People Democratic Party, CPI(M), and Peoples Conference, have expressed concerns that the move will open the floodgates and turn locals into an electoral minority.