Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar spoke in a press conference in Jammu about the poll preparedness in the union territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir.
He appealed to the citizens of Jammu & Kashmir to participate in the general elections in large numbers, with a special emphasis on the young voters who have been recently added to the electoral roll. Nearly 3.4 lakh first-time voters have been added to the electoral roll during the Special Summary Revision (SSR) of 2024, the CEC stated.
The union territory will have 11,629 polling stations (PSs), with an average of 747 voters per polling station. Of these, 2,302 will be urban PSs and 9,307 will be rural PSs. The election commission will monitor more than 52% of the polling stations, which are sensitive, through webcasting.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has pointed out that women and persons with disabilities (PwD) will manage 93 and 83 polling stations, respectively.
Moreover, the ECI has also provided home voting facility to senior citizens for the first time in J&K. Ahead of the nomination of candidates, the ECI will distribute Form 12D to households in the UT to provide the facility of casting votes from home to senior citizens. In addition, senior citizens who would be willing to cast votes at booths, will be assisted by a volunteer and a wheelchair if they need it.
The ECI has also introduced apps and portals for voters, parties, candidates, complaints, and vigilance. The Voter Helpline App will provide facilities like details about the polling booth, the ability to download voter identity cards, and information about booth level officers (BLOs), among others.
The Suvidha portal, an online portal for candidates to file nominations and affidavits, will also be used to seek permissions for meetings and rallies by parties or candidates. It will ensure a level playing field through the first-in, first-out method.
The ECI has also introduced C-Vigil in Jammu & Kashmir, an app for recording, reporting and resolving violations that will provide a response within 100 minutes of the filing of a complaint by any of the citizens. CEC Kumar pointed out that the Election Commission will ensure the anonymity of the complainant, the CEC added.
Kumar highlighted that the ECI has assessed the security situation in the UT ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
