For the first time in 10 years, assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18.

Voters from 7 districts located on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountain range in Jammu and Kashmir will cast their votes in the assembly elections for the first time in ten years. The stage is set for the first phase of polling in the Union Territory, which will take place on Wednesday, September 18. This is the first assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

More than 2.3 million voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 independent candidates, contesting for 24 assembly constituencies. Notably, 8 constituencies are in three districts of the Jammu region, while 16 constituencies are in four districts of the Kashmir Valley. The assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are being held in three phases. The first phase of voting will be on September 18, the second phase on September 25, and the third phase on November 1. The vote count will take place on October 8. For the first phase of voting on September 18, polling teams in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district departed on Tuesday for their designated polling stations with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

According to the Election Commission (EC), a total of 2,327,580 voters are eligible to vote in the first phase, including 1,176,462 men, 1,151,058 women, and 60 third-gender voters.

An EC official stated that 123,000 young voters aged 18-19, 28,309 differently-abled voters, and 15,774 senior citizens above the age of 85 are also eligible to exercise their voting rights in the first phase. The official added that a total of 14,000 polling staff will oversee the process at 3,276 polling stations to ensure smooth voting. There are 302 urban polling stations and 2,974 rural polling stations. Each polling station will have four election staff members, including a presiding officer. In total, over 14,000 polling staff will be deployed for the first phase of elections.

The constituencies where voting will take place on Wednesday include Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, Pahalgam, Inderwal, Kishtwar, Paddar-Nagseni, Bhaderwah, Doda, West Doda, Ramban, and Banihal.