MUZAFFARABAD (Dunya News) - The Election Commission of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has officially announced the schedule for the general elections of the AJK Legislative Assembly, with polling set to take place on July 27.
According to the notification issued on Friday, candidates will be able to submit their nomination papers to returning officers from June 9 to June 19 (until 4pm). Scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted on June 20, with the initial list of eligible candidates to be issued the same day.
The schedule further states that appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers can be filed from June 21 to June 24, while these appeals will be heard on June 26 and June 27 between 9am and 4pm.
Decisions on appeals will be finalized between June 28 and June 29, after which candidates may withdraw their nominations until June 30 (by 2pm).
The final list of contesting candidates will be published on July 1, followed by the allotment of election symbols on July 2.
Polling will be held on July 27, with voting scheduled to begin at 8am and continue until 5pm.
Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal said during a press briefing that the elections will be conducted under the supervision of the army, paramilitary forces, and civil armed forces.
The last general elections in Azad Kashmir were held in July 2021.
Meanwhile, voter registration in the region has increased significantly. According to updated electoral rolls, the number of registered voters in AJK has risen to 3,804,385, up from 3,220,546 in 2021—an increase of 583,839 voters.
Of the total electorate, 3,365,839 voters are registered in the 33 constituencies within AJK, while 438,546 voters are registered in 12 constituencies in Pakistan reserved for Kashmiri refugees.
The data also shows that there are 2,001,730 male voters and 1,802,655 female voters.
Among constituencies, LA-7 Bhimber-III has the largest electorate with 129,994 voters, while LA-30 Muzaffarabad-IV has the smallest with 68,228 voters.