Jammu: Notwithstanding the mainstream politicians crying foul over the assertion of J&K Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) vis-à-vis registration and voting rights of people from outside J&K in ensuing assembly elections, the Union Territory (UT) administration has said, “After the abrogation of Article 370, Representation of People Act 1950 and 1951 is applicable. It allows ordinarily residing person to get registered in electoral rolls of UT of J&K, provided he or she gets the name deleted from the electoral roll of his or her native constituency.”
“Even prior to the abrogation of Article 370, those ordinarily residing in UT were eligible to get registered in electoral rolls. They were categorised as Non-Permanent Resident (NPR) voters. During the last Parliamentary elections there were approx 32,000 NPR voters in J&K,” they said.
“There is nothing surprising in J&K CEO’s announcement that non-locals ordinarily residing here can vote now. After abrogation of Article 370, all central laws are applicable here. According to new laws, those, who could not vote earlier due to special status, can vote now,” asserts a senior official.
“See, the mainstream politicians, though, are well aware of these laws yet are spreading unfounded fears among masses to grind their own axes and are creating an unnecessary controversy through propaganda by twisting facts. Obviously, this serves their political interest, otherwise facts speak for themselves,” he said.
Reference was to the press conferences and statements issued by mainstream politicians of J&K, including PDP and NC leaderships, on the issue.
Further elucidating this point, he said, “Prior to the abrogation of Article 370, the Assembly Electoral Rolls in Jammu and Kashmir were made under the ambit of Jammu and Kashmir Representation of People Act 1957, wherein only permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir were eligible to get registered in the Assembly Rolls and possess consequential voting rights in assembly elections. With the abrogation of Article 370 and applicability of Representation of People Act 1950 and 1951, any citizen of India who has attained the qualifying age and ‘ordinarily residing’ at a place is eligible to get registered in the electoral roll of that place, if not disqualified otherwise.”
“It is in this context, the media was briefed that any person who fulfills the requirements of registration and is ordinarily residing in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir (owing to any reasons such as profession, studies, posting, etc), can get registered in the Electoral Rolls of Jammu and Kashmir, provided he gets his name deleted from Electoral Roll of his native constituency, as registration at two places is not permitted under law,” the official said, while explaining the context of the assertions of J&K CEO.
CEO Hirdesh Kumar on Wednesday had made these announcements in a press conference here in Jammu, while notifying the Special Summary Revision (SSR) schedule for J&K.
Official, while defending the CEO’s statements, pointed out, “It is, worthwhile, to mention here that, even prior to abrogation of Article 370, these people were eligible to get registered in the Electoral Rolls, if they were ordinarily residing in any of assembly segments of Jammu and Kashmir, but they had the right to vote only in parliamentary elections and were categorized as Non Permanent Resident (NPR) voters. During the last parliamentary elections, there were approximately 32000 such NPR voters.”
With regard to the apprehensions about “bogus voters” or “anyone out of nowhere can become voter”, the official dubs them as “misplaced notions.”
“See, the procedure for getting registered in the Electoral Roll involves filing of Form-6 by the eligible person, which contains complete details of the applicant including his family trail. There are specified documents prescribed by the Commission which are to be submitted as proof of residence as well as proof of age. On receipt of any such documents along with requisite documents, a Booth Level Officer, BLO (who happens to be a local officer of the polling area), is appointed by the Electoral Registration Officer(ERO), who conducts a detailed physical verification of the particulars mentioned in the Form 6, and submits his report. It is based on the documents as well as the report of the BLO, the concerned ERO, if satisfied, grants registration to an applicant. Further, as a counter-check, there is also a provision in law to object to the inclusion of any name in the electoral roll through Form-7, by any elector of the concerned constituency. Thus there are multiple statutory safeguards existing in the present system against inclusion of an in-eligible person in the Electoral Roll,” he stated, while explaining the ‘foolproof’ system of checks and balances put in place by the Election Commission of India.
The official also seeks to allay apprehensions about another major significant aspect, which has created doubts in the minds of people and the mainstream politicians are raking up to flag their concern I.e., anticipated increase in the number of electors after the completion of SSR.
Reiterating the assertion of the CEO, the official said, “The last SSR in Jammu and Kashmir was held with reference to January 1, 2019 as the qualifying date. Thus the youth of Jammu and Kashmir who have attained 18 years of age afterJanuary 1, 2019 are expected to be registered in the Electoral Roll during this SSR, along with other left out persons. Based on the population projections (RGI), the projected 18+ population in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir as on July 1, 2022 is expected to be 9896000, whereas the registered electors in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir as on date are only 7602397, thus there is a gap of 2293603. It is this gap which was used to convey tentative expectation from the SSR.”
With regard to Kashmiri migrants, the official explained that there was no change in the provisions for them (Kashmiri migrants).
“All provisions for their registration which the media was briefed about have been there for the last so many elections. They have the special provision of getting registered in the electoral rolls of their native (prior to their migration) assembly segments, though residing outside. For their facilitation, three AERO (Migrants) are designated, at Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi. Every SSR special camps are organized at the camps where these migrants are putting up,” he stated.
“Regarding the members belonging to Armed Forces, including Army, BSF, CRPF, etc, it was told that there already exists a provision for them to get registered as Service Voters for their native assembly constituency and avail the facility of Electronically Transferred Postal Ballot System (ETPBS). However, for the Armed Forces personnel who are posted at Peace Stations there is an additional option available to get registered as a General Elector at the peace station,” the official explained.