April 1, 2026 to be qualifying date for new voters
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 26: The State Election Commission (SEC) today announced annual revision of the Panchayat electoral rolls, with April 1, 2026, as the qualifying date while the final rolls will be published on May 15.
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“As per Sub Rule 4 of Rule 4 of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996, the electoral roll will be prepared in accordance with the provisions of the J&K Panchayati Raj Act 1989 and the procedure prescribed by the Election Authority,” State Election Commissioner, Shantmanu said.
The Panchayats ceased to exist in Jammu and Kashmir on January 9, 2024 and the UT is without the elected Panchayats for past over two years now. Similar is the case with the Municipalities which completed their term in October-November 2023. Term of the Block Development Councils (BDCs) was co-terminus with the Panchayats and their tenure also ended on January 9, 2024. Tenure of the District Development Councils (DDCs) ended on February 24, 2026.
Now, the Jammu and Kashmir is without the elected Local Bodies with all three tiers of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) non-existent. This was for the first time that the Jammu and Kashmir had all three elected Institutions of the PRIs.
The SEC communique stated that the revision process will be based on the last updated electoral rolls and the names included in it will be taken as the basis for preparation.
The Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will publish the last updated integrated electoral roll in each Halqa Panchayat on March 27with a notice in Form PER-1.
The draft Panchayat Electoral Roll-2026 will be open for revision from March 27 inviting claims and objections regarding additions, deletions, corrections and transpositions from the eligible voters. The period for filing claims and objections will be from March 27 to April 29.
To facilitate the process, special camps will be held at polling booth locations on 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26 April, 2026, where the Panchayat Election Booth Officials and Assembly BLOs will remain available with the requisite forms and draft electoral rolls, the revision schedule stated.
The eligible voters can contact the District Panchayat Election Officer (DPEO), Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) and Panchayat Election Booth Official (PEBO) for assistance. Their details are available at the offices of the concerned DPEO and on the official website secjk.nic.in.
The document added that disposal of claims will be done by the ERO till May 8while the publication of the final roll will be done on May 15.
Sources said the voter lists for the Urban Local Bodies are not revised by the SEC and number of electorates will be taken from the lists prepared after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) which is scheduled to be held in Jammu and Kashmir in April-May.
A decision on conduct of Panchayat elections will be taken only after the final electoral rolls are published.
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