Voter lists in Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra will be updated by the Election Commission.
The voters’ list was updated with January 1 as the qualifying date for the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The Election Commission announced on Friday that it has started updating the voter records in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in the states of Haryana, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand in anticipation of the upcoming assembly elections.
The deadline to qualify for roll updation is July 1, 2024. The voters’ list was updated with January 1st as the qualifying date for the just concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The number of voters in a state or the nation on a particular date is determined in part by the qualifying date.
Elections to these legislative assemblies must be held before to the expiration of the mandates of the current legislative assemblies in the three states, which are scheduled to conclude on November 3, November 26, and January 5, 2025, respectively.
After constituency boundaries are established, assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will also be held in order to form a new house, as the EC pointed out.
Jammu and Kashmir will soon hold assembly elections, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also announced intentions to bring statehood back to the union territory on Thursday.
During his maiden visit to the valley as prime minister for the third time in a row, Modi emphasized how crucial it is to let the people of Jammu and Kashmir to choose their assembly representatives.
The poll authority stated, “The Commission has also directed for the updation of electoral rolls in the UT with July 1, 2024 as the qualifying date, witnessing the huge participation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.”
The Election Commission announced on June 7 that it will now accept applications from registered unrecognized parties in the Union Territory for the allocation of “common symbols,” a move that suggests assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are about to take place.
An official had indicated that any registered unrecognized political party may apply for a “common symbol” six months before the end of a House’s term in accordance with Paragraph 10 B of the Election Symbols (Reservation & Allotment) Order, 1968.
However, as Jammu and Kashmir does not have a functioning assembly, the EC has released a press release requesting applications for emblems.
Registered unrecognized parties must apply for one in order to field candidates, although recognized national and state parties have their own “reserved symbols.” The returning officer “on the spot” distributes the remaining unclaimed symbols to Independents after free symbols are given to non-recognized parties.
Motivated by Jammu and Kashmir’s enthusiastic turnout for the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar recently said PTI that the electoral body would “very soon” begin the process of conducting assembly elections in the Union Territory.
Speaking during the March schedule announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, Kumar stated that logistical and security issues made it impractical to hold both assembly and parliamentary elections at the same time.
The next assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be the first following the state’s division into two Union Territories and the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019.
In Jammu and Kashmir, elections typically take place over the course of a month.
With the exception of those allotted to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the number of assembly seats has increased from 83 to 90 after a delimitation exercise.
The poll panel was instructed by the Supreme Court in December to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30.
The Election Commission announced that pre-updation efforts will start on June 25 in order to establish or reorganize polling places at the most convenient locations for voters in rural areas, group housing societies, slums, and metropolitan outposts.
