The Election Commission of India (ECI) has set up 24 polling stations for Kashmiri migrants in the upcoming J&K assembly elections. P.K. Pole, J&K’s chief electoral officer (CEO), announced that these polling stations will be located in Jammu, Udhampur, and New Delhi.
Pole stated that migrants displaced from the Kashmir Valley and living in Jammu and Udhampur will not need to fill out Form-M as they did during the Lok Sabha elections. Of the 24 polling stations, 19 are in Jammu, one is in Udhampur, and four are in Delhi.
He added that this decision follows the ECI’s move during the Lok Sabha elections to remove the requirement for migrant electors in Jammu and Udhampur to fill out Form-M. Migrants residing in these zones and camps will be mapped to their respective polling stations.
The draft roll extracts mapping migrant electors to polling stations in Jammu and Udhampur will be published soon. Voters will have seven days to request additions, deletions, or corrections. The final voter lists will then be published, allowing migrant electors to vote by presenting their Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) or any of the 12 approved photo IDs.
Migrants outside Jammu and Udhampur can now self-certify Form-M instead of getting it attested by a gazetted officer. Those voters wishing to vote in person must inform election officials about their family members’ details.
Additionally, migrants who choose not to vote in person can opt for postal ballots.
The ECI announced that the assembly elections will be held in three phases. The first phase will take place on September 18, the second on September 25, and the third on October 1. Counting will occur on October 4, and the poll process will conclude by October 6.
J&K has 90 assembly constituencies, including 47 in the Valley and 43 in the Jammu division. Of these, 74 are general, nine are reserved for ST, and seven are reserved for SC candidates.
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