AJK to hold Legislative Assembly polls in three phases from July 27
Chief Election Commissioner Justice (Retd.) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal announced that voters in the Mirpur Division, comprising 13 seats, will cast ballots first on July 27.
The Muzaffarabad Division and constituencies reserved for Jammu and Kashmir refugees, accounting for 21 seats combined, will vote on August 2, followed by the Poonch Division's 11 seats on August 10. Results will similarly be declared in stages as each phase concludes.
Officials say the phased structure was adopted to allow security forces and civilian administration to focus resources on one region at a time, reducing the risk of unrest during polling.
Ahead of the main vote, roughly 30,000 government employees assigned to election duty across eight districts took part in advance polling this week, with officials reporting turnout above 80 percent.
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A total of more than 3.36 million registered voters are eligible to participate within AJK's 33 constituencies, alongside over 438,000 voters registered in reserved refugee constituencies, figures that reflect a rise of nearly 584,000 voters since the last polls in 2021.
Security has been tightened across polling areas, with police and Frontier Corps personnel deployed at sensitive locations. The commission has acknowledged that ongoing political protests in parts of the region could still affect the timeline, saying adjustments would be made if unrest disrupts preparations, though the current schedule remains unchanged.
The elections will determine the composition of AJK's next Legislative Assembly and are being closely watched as a gauge of political sentiment in the region, particularly given the sharp rise in the voter roll since the last general election.
