Amid a flurry of reports that over 25 lakh additional voters were added in Jammu and Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir government today said facts have been misrepresented to serve some vested interests. The administration says that the existing residents of Jammu and Kashmir will be included in the voter list under the special revision process. The figure which will increase with the addition of new voters who have completed 18 years of age by October 1, 2022, will mostly be existing residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
The clarification comes after controversy over the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) remark that “25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, are likely to be added to the electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir”. After the CEO’s remarks, political parties in Jammu and Kashmir had alleged that 25 lakh outsiders were being brought to Jammu and Kashmir as voters.
Special revision of voter lists took place in the year 2011The government said that the voters’ list will include those people who are residing in Jammu and Kashmir and will have completed 18 years of age by October 1, 2022. In this process, such people will also get an opportunity to become voters in Jammu and Kashmir who are currently residing here by changing their old place of residence. An official spokesman said that the special revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir was done in the year 2011, in which a total of 66,00,921 voters were registered. At present there are 76,02,397 voters in the electoral roll of Jammu and Kashmir. No change in jobs and property purchase rulesThe government has said that no new changes have been made in the rules for buying property and government jobs in the state. Similarly, property purchase and government jobs have nothing to do with voting rights.Same rules as before for Kashmiri migrantsThere has been no change in the rules regarding voting rights of Kashmiri migrants. It has been said by the government that Kashmiri migrants will be able to take postal ballot facility for voting in their respective constituencies. They will get the option of voting from Jammu, Udhampur, Delhi etc as before.
Chief Electoral Officer Hirdesh Kumar had told in a press conference on August 17 that after the removal of Article 370, 20 to 25 lakh new voters are going to be added to the voter list of Jammu and Kashmir. He had said that among these new voters would be people from other states who are living in Jammu and Kashmir for some work or the other. During the special revision process, those who have completed the age of 18 years will be able to become voters.
The CEO had said that the estimated population above 18 years of age in Jammu and Kashmir is 98 lakh while the registered voters in the state are 76 lakh. In such a situation, we are expecting that 20 to 25 lakh new voters will be added, who will not even need a domicile for voter registration. In this, all those people including employees, students, laborers will also be able to become voters who are currently living in Jammu and Kashmir