Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Kashmiri migrants do not need to fill 'Form M,' says Election Commission

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has abolished the cumbersome procedure of filling ‘Form-M’ for the displaced people from the who are residing in Jammu and Udhampur. 

Instead, these Kashmiri migrants shall be mapped with the Special Polling Stations falling in the zones they are registered or residing.

This is a major decision to facilitate voting by Kashmiri migrants in the upcoming , the poll panel said on Friday.   

Additionally, for the migrants residing outside Jammu and Udhampur, who will continue to submit ‘Form M’, the poll panel has authorised the self-attestation of the certificate appended with Form-M. This, the poll panel said, would remove the hassle of getting this certificate attested by the gazetted officer. 

“Representations were received from several Kashmiri migrant groups projecting the difficulties they face in filling of Form-M every election which brings a lot of hassle to them in exercising their right to franchise," the poll panel said in a statement on Friday.

As per the practice until now, who seek to vote in transitory camps set up outside the Valley in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi have to fill and submit the 'Form M' before exercising their right to vote.

The Form-M procedure subjects these voters to additional bureaucratic hurdles compared to other voters and also the process of filling out the Form-M is often complex and cumbersome, requiring specific documentation, proof of migration status and attestation by a gazetted officer, the poll panel said. 

As per the new arrangement, all 22 special polling stations (21 in Jammu and 1 in Udhampur) to the 21 Zones (20 in Jammu and 1 in Udhampur) individually will be mapped ensuring that every zone has at least one Special Polling Station, the