The Election Commission of India (ECI) this week kicked off a drive to update the electoral rolls in Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where elections are expected later this year, for the first time allowing those turning 18 as of October 1 instead of January 1 to enroll, and for the collection of Aadhaar numbers of applicants.
On Wednesday, the ECI wrote to the Jammu & Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), instructing that the ongoing electoral roll revision exercise should be conducted in accordance with the new rules allowing four qualifying dates a year. For Jammu & Kashmir, the ECI has said the draft electoral roll should be published on September 1, and the final electoral roll on October 31.
The ECI wrote to the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh CEOs on Monday, giving the programme for the revision of rolls to be followed. The ECI informed the CEOs to carry out the special revision in accordance with the rules framed under the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, which increased the qualifying dates from January 1 every year to January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1, and allowed for Aadhaar-linking with Voter ID, that were notified on June 17.
