Srinagar, August 24: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has set up 24 special polling stations to facilitate voting for Kashmiri migrants in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, s senior official said on Saturday.
Twenty four special polling stations are being set up in Jammu, Udhampur and New Delhi to facilitate voting by Kashmiri migrant voters in the assembly polls, said P.K. Pole, chief electoral officer (CEO) of J&K.
The people displaced from the Kashmir Valley and residing in Jammu and Udhampur will not have to fill Form-M as was done in the Lok Sabha elections, the CEO added.
“Kashmiri migrant voters residing in various relief camps in Jammu, Udhampur, and Delhi, who have opted to cast their votes in person through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the election, can do so at 24 polling stations out of which 19 are being set up in Jammu, one in Udhampur and four in Delhi,” the CEO said.
“Continuing with the historic decision taken by the ECI during the Lok Sabha elections, the earlier requirement for migrant electors in Jammu and Udhampur to fill out Form-M has been removed,” he added.
Electors residing in zones and camps will be mapped to their respective polling stations in Jammu and Udhampur, the CEO said.
“The draft roll extracts, mapping migrant electors residing in various zones in Jammu and Udhampur to the respective special polling stations will be published soon. Any additions, deletions or corrections will be allowed for a period of seven days,” the statement said.
Following this, the final photo electoral roll extracts will be published for each polling station, based on which migrant electors will be allowed to vote at these special polling stations like any other voter, by producing the Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) or any of the 12 alternate photo identity documents notified by the ECI.
Migrants residing outside Jammu and Udhampur can now self-certify Form-M instead of getting it attested by a gazetted officer or other authorities.
