AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio Newsonair. In this program, many eminent panelists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation. This article features the discussion about the expansion of voting rights in Jammu and Kashmir.
Participant – Akshay Raut, Former director general of Election Commission of India.
Moderator – Neelab Srivatsav, Journalist
Introduction:
- Recently, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Jammu and Kashmir announced that anyone “who is living ordinarily in the state” can avail the opportunity to get enlisted as a voter in the Union Territory in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.
- The State has 76 lakh registered voters at present.
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) was expecting an addition of 20-25 lakh new voters in the final list in J&K.
What is the summary revision of the Electoral roll?
- It is the process of summary revision of photo electoral rolls across Assembly constituencies to include youth who attain the age of 18, migrant electors and those who shifted residence with January 01 of that year as reference date.
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) has begun the process of electoral rolls revision in Jammu and Kashmir after a gap of 03 years, in an indication that polls could be held in the Union Territory post its delimitation exercise.
- The Election Commission has directed special summary revision of photo electoral rolls with October 1, 2022 as the qualifying date in Jammu and Kashmir.
- This revision is significant as the exercise is being carried out for the first time since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.
Delimitation Exercise in Jammu and Kashmir:
- Delimitation commission was set by the Union government as it became necessary when the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 increased the number of seats in the Assembly.
- After abrogation of J & K’s special status in 2019, the delimitation of both Assembly and parliamentary seats is governed by the Constitution of India.
- The Delimitation Commission was set up on 6th March 2020 under retired Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
- Delimitation Commission’s final ruling became effective with effect from May 20, 2022.
Read more on recent Commission report
Eligibility Criteria:
- There are 04 qualifying dates on which voters could register themselves for the first time in the electoral roll. Earlier it was January 01st of each year. Now January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 are available in the law.
- Armed services personnel stationed in J & K have the opportunity to register as voters.
- The ECI has agreed to add everybody who will have turned 18 on or before October 1, 2022, to the newly created electoral rolls.
- Anyone who is habitually residing in J&K, whether they are a worker, student, laborer, or outsider, may add their name to the voting list.
Voting rights prior to special status revocal:
- Prior to August 5, 2019 when J & K had special constitutional powers, the Assembly electoral rolls in the State were drawn up according to the Jammu & Kashmir Representation of the People Act 1957, wherein only permanent residents of J & K were eligible to get registered in the Assembly rolls.
- Permanent Resident Certificate and domicile certificates were compulsory to get voting rights.
- Lakhs of residents from west Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, who had migrated to J & K and were living there for decades, had no voting rights in the state’s Assembly elections till August 5, 2019 but were able to vote in the parliamentary elections.
- Following the revocation of Special provisions of Article 370, the Representation of the People Act 1950 and 1951 is applicable in J&K which permits ordinarily residing individuals to register on the electoral rolls of J&K “provided he or she gets their name deleted from the electoral roll of his or her native constituency.”
Issues and Complaints regarding summary revision:
- The idea of bringing in 25 lakh non-locals and granting them voting rights in the upcoming J&K elections alarmed some local politicians.
- State’s chief regional parties such as National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party, CPI(M) and Peoples Conference, have expressed concerns that the move will open the floodgates and turn locals into an electoral minority.
- The Jammu region has got more seats relative to its population compared with the Kashmir Valley, and this violates the population criterion, these parties have contended.
- The award of seats based on the 2011 census has meant that Jammu with 44 per cent population will get 48 per cent share in seats, while Kashmir with 56 percent of population will get only 52 per cent share in seats. Earlier, the Kashmir region had 55.4 per cent share in seats and Jammu 44.5 per cent share in seats.
Conclusion: Revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir will enable eligible young people to register themselves as voters. This will help in India’s step towards achieving more voting percentage by delivering the constitutional promise of Universal franchise.
Read about more Electoral reforms in India
AIR Spotlight- Expansion of Voting Rights in Jammu and Kashmir:- Download PDF Here
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