Anybody can go vote in Jammu & Kashmir? Here’s what election rules say (2024)

New Delhi,UPDATED: Aug 19, 2022 10:03 IST

Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Hirdesh Kumar’s announcement about non-locals, including employees, students, labourers, or anyone from outside who is living ordinarily in Jammu and Kashmir, being able to register their names in the voting list and vote in the J&K elections has created a buzz across states.

CEO Hirdesh Kumar had said any Indian citizen, including non-locals living or working in Jammu and Kashmir, can enlist their names on the voting list and cast a vote in the assembly and local body elections in the union territory.

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He said even armed forces personnel posted in peace stations of J&K can get their names added to the voters’ list.

The announcement prompted reactions from regional and national parties. J&K political parties slammed the Centre and cried foul. The declaration has also led to certain assumptions among people. Let us separate fiction from facts.

Fiction: Anyone can go and vote in J&K. Some have assumed that anyone can go, vote, and return from J&K. It also sounds like one citizen can vote in multiple states, multiple times.

Fact: Any Indian citizen (who resides in the country) can vote in any state election. But this doesn't mean that one can vote in multiple elections. Election commission officers check all documents before adding names to the voters' list, so if a resident of Delhi moves to Chennai and wants to vote in Chennai then he or she will have to get their name removed from Delhi's electoral roll and then get their name added to Chennai's electoral role (provided they have correct documents).

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Fiction: 20-25 lakh new voters will be added to the electoral list, those who have no connection with J&K.

Fact: Electoral roll is a process that takes place across the country. Now there are four qualifying dates, January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 as eligibility for youngsters to register in electoral rolls as opposed to the earlier single qualifying date of January 1.

The last electoral roll revision in J&K was done on January 1, 2019, three years ago. According to data available with J&K CEO, between 2019 and 2022 there will be roughly 20-25 lakh voters who will be added to the roll from the state.

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The Special Summary Revision (SSR) exercise has been notified for the UT of Jammu and Kashmir with reference to October 1, 2022, as the qualifying date. This means that any person who attains the age of 18 years on or before October 1, 2022.

Fiction: Political parties (NC, PDP) have alleged that BJP will import voters to win the election. They are claiming that since BJP cannot win the hearts of J&K people, others will be brought in and asked to vote to increase its voting percentage.

Fact: For a person to enroll himself/herself on the voter list he should be ordinarily residing in the UT. Only those who are 'ordinarily residing' can enroll themselves. A person can have only one place of ordinary residence.

IMPORTANT FORMS FOR J&K ELECTIONS

There are four forms that are crucial for the elections.

-Form 6: If one wants to add his/her name to the voter list, then they need to fill out Form 6

-Form 7: If one wants to delete one's name from the voter list, then form 7 needs to be filled

-Form 8: If one needs some corrections to details, then form 8 needs to be filled

-Form 6B: Linking of Aadhaar and voter ID

ABROGATION OF ARTICLE 370 GAVE RIGHTS TO INDIAN CITIZENS TO VOTE IN J&K

Though the issue is being raked up now, these changes came into effect on August 5, 2019.

Before the abrogation of Article 370, many were not allowed to vote in J&K (marginalised groups, West Pakistani refugees, Dalits).

Since the abrogation of Article 370, there is now no requirement for a Permanent Resident Certificate or domicile certificate of Jammu and Kashmir to become a voter.

The draft of the voters' list will be published on September 15, 2022, and it will be available at each polling station.

A total of 600 new polling stations have been added since the delimitation and now the total number of polling stations, 11,370 stations.

The integrated draft roll shall now be published by all EROs of the UT on September 15, 2022, marking the formal beginning of the revision activities.

POLITICAL PARTIES OF J&K UNITE AGAINST BJP

The new rules, however, have not gone down well with political parties in Jammu and Kashmir. The former Chief Minister and chief of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mehbooba Mufti, has opposed the move. She said, "Voting rights for the non-locals is aimed at conducting fraudulent elections to allow the BJP to rule in Jammu and Kashmir."

"The BJP has understood that after three years of rule in J&K, they couldn't break the resistance of the silent people. The situation is not different for Muslims only, but for every community including Dogras and Pandits," Mehbooba Mufti said.

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Mufti further said, "This is the last nail in the coffin of democracy."

It wasn't just Mufti, National Conference Vice-President Omar Abdullah too jumped on the bandwagon and took a swipe at BJP. He said, "BJP is insecure about support from genuine voters of J&K. That is why it needs to import temporary voters to win seats".

National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah has now called for an all-party meeting on Monday to discuss the recent announcement.