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More than 23.27 lakh voters including 5.66 lakh youths are eligible to exercise their electoral franchise during the Phase-I of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Election, which is scheduled to be held on September 18, 2024, across the 24 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in seven districts of Jammu & Kashmir, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) J&K, Pandurang K Pole said on Thursday.
"As per the latest data of electoral rolls available, there is a total of 23,27,543 lakh voters, who are eligible to vote during Phase one of the J&K Assembly. Out of them, there are 11,76,441 male voters and 11,51,042 female voters along with 60 Third Gender Electors," the CEO said.
Underlining the significance of the role to be played by the youth of Jammu and Kashmir in strengthening democracy, the CEO said that as many as 5.66 lakh youths are eligible to vote in phase 1 of the Assembly Election.
![P K Pole](https://data1.ibtimes.co.in/en/full/781487/p-k-pole.png?h=450&l=50&t=40)
These 5.66 lakh young electors are between the ages of 18 and 29 and include 1,23,922 first-time voters between the age of 18 and 19, with 65,542 of them male and 58380 female electors. In Phase- I, 28,310 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and 15,774 voters above the age of 85 are eligible to cast their vote.
In the first phase, 24 Assembly constituencies, both in Jammu and Kashmir divisions are going to election on September 18, 2024.
The notification has been issued for the Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam districts in the Kashmir Division; and the Doda, Ramban, and Kishtwar districts in the Jammu Division.
In Kashmir Division, 16 Assembly Constituencies comprising Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, Pahalgam; whereas in Jammu Division, 8 Assembly Constituencies including, Inderwal, Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Bhadarwah, Doda, Doda West, Ramban and Banihal are scheduled to go for polls in the Phase-I of the Assembly Election.
The Notification for Phase I was released on August 20, 2024 and the last date for filing the nominations for Phase I is August 27, 2024.
Randomization of EVMs, and VVPATs successfully conducted
The First Randomization of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and VVPATs for the General Assembly Elections 2024 took place in Kulgam today, Thursday, following the Election Commission of India guidelines.
The process was conducted in the presence of the District Election Officer (DEO), Athar Aamir Khan, ROs, and the representatives of the national and state-recognized political parties.
The representatives of national and state-recognized political parties who were present during the first Randomization process include Bhartiya Janta Party, Communist Party of India Marxist, Indian National Congress, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, among other parties.
The randomization was done on the EMS Software/Portal of ECI, to the satisfaction of the representatives of all the political parties present in the meeting. All the representatives of political parties expressed their satisfaction with the entire randomization process.