Row over 'non locals' casting vote in Jammu and Kashmir elections — Who are these outsiders?

No. Those who are working or living — termed "ordinarily resident" — in Jammu and Kashmir are now eligible to get registered in the electoral roll of the Union Territory.

Officials said that after the abrogation of Article 370, the Representation of People Act 1950 and 1951 is applicable. "It allows ordinarily residing person to register in electoral rolls of UT of J&K, provided he/she gets the name deleted from the electoral roll of his/her native constituency, the official said.

However, they need to get the name deleted from the electoral roll of his/her native constituency or other states or union territory. This is because, according to the election commission, "A person cannot be enrolled as a voter in more than one place in the same constituency or more than one constituency given the provisions contained under Sec. 17 and 18 of RP Act, 1950."

As per the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of People Act:

A person shall not be deemed to be ordinarily resident in a

constituency only based on the fact that he owns, or is in possession of, a dwelling house therein.

A person who is a patient in any establishment maintained wholly or mainly for the reception and treatment of persons suffering from mental illness or mental defectiveness, or who is detained in prison or other legal custody at any place, shall not only by reason thereof be deemed to be ordinarily resident therein.

Any person having a service qualification shall be deemed to be

ordinarily resident on any date in the constituency in which he would have been ordinarily resident on that date.

Being a member of the armed forces of the Union; or

Being a member of a force to which the provisions of the Army

Act, 1950 (46 of 1950) has been made applicable whether with

or without modifications; or

Being a member of an armed police force of the State, who is

serving outside the State; or

Being a person, holding any office under the Government and,

verified to be moving along with the headquarters of the

Government, from Kashmir Province to Jammu Province or

vice versa, by such authority as the Governor, may, in

consultation with the Election Commission, specify

Any person holding any office in India declared by the Governor

in consultation with the Election Commission to be an office to which the provisions of this subsection apply shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident.

The wife of any such person having a service qualification or holding any office in India is declared by the Governor.

"The exercise is being done after January 2019, which means those who attained 18 years of age after January 1, 2019, will be added to the voters’ list," Singh said. He further estimated that "massive voters will be added, including those who today are of 19, 20, 21, 22 or 23 years of age."

The Election Commission said the person would have to submit a filled-in Form - 6 to the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) of the Assembly Constituency.

If the person is located in Jammu, the list of EROs can be found on the Electoral Rolls Page of this site. Else, they can contact the District Election Officer at the District Magistrate's office.

For inclusion of names: Form- 6

For any objection to the inclusion of names: Form- 7

For correction of entries in the Electoral Rolls: Form- 8

For transposition of entry in electoral roll: Form- 8A

Mehbooba Mufti, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief, said, "Everything is happening in BJP's interest: She said, "This is the last nail in the coffin of electoral democracy. A Muslim majority state chose India. They wanted to be part of secular India. But people have lost confidence in voting."

"GOIs decision to defer polls in J&K preceded by egregious gerrymandering tilting the balance in BJPs favour and now allowing non-locals to vote is obviously to influence election results. The real aim is to continue ruling J&K with an iron fist to disempower locals," Mufti tweeted.

Another former Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah questioned if the "BJP was insecure about support from genuine voters of Jammu and Kashmir".

"Is the BJP so insecure about support from genuine voters of J&K that it needs to import temporary voters to win seats? None of these things will help the BJP when the people of J&K are given a chance to exercise their franchise," Abdullah tweeted.

His party, the National Conference, also termed the inclusion of outside voters in Jammu and Kashmir electoral rolls as a clear-cut de-franchising of people of the erstwhile state, saying no outsiders should be allowed to vote just because they come here temporarily.

"Why are you putting everything on the people who come from outside? When you say outsiders, then you make it a security issue without any reason...," NC's chief spokesperson said, adding that "There are about 8,000-10,000 outside labourers in some district of Jammu division."

The government official clarified the Opposition's claims saying, "Even before 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."