Chief Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal announces revised polling schedule as Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Poonch divisions vote separately.
MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan — Web Desk: The Chief Election Commissioner of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, announced on Tuesday that elections in the region will now be held in three phases instead of a single day.
According to the election commissioner, Mirpur Division will go to the polls first on July 27, followed by Muzaffarabad Division on August 2 and Poonch Division on August 10 in the third and final phase.
The revised schedule marks a change from the AJK Election Commission’s earlier plan, which had set July 27, 2026, as a single polling day for all constituencies of the AJK Legislative Assembly, with voting to take place from 8am to 5pm.
The election commission said all arrangements for the phased elections would be completed on schedule, though it did not immediately detail the reasons behind the shift to a multi-phase format.
At least 1,265 candidates have submitted nomination papers across the region’s 45 constituencies, including 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees, according to a report by The News. Of these, 1,047 candidates filed papers for the 33 constituencies within AJK territory, while 218 candidates are contesting the 12 refugee seats.
The election commission said the scrutiny process for all 45 constituencies has been completed, with 41 nomination papers rejected on legal grounds.
A total of 6,983 polling stations and 10,913 polling booths are being set up to serve 3,804,368 registered voters who will elect representatives to the 33 AJK region seats and 12 migrant seats. Of these, 3,365,685 voters will cast ballots at 5,926 polling stations within AJK. Male voters make up 52 percent of the electorate, with female voters accounting for the remaining 48 percent.
A total of 22 political parties are contesting the elections. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), founded by Imran Khan, has boycotted the polls in solidarity with ongoing protests in the region. The party, which had planned to field candidates as independents after again failing to secure an election symbol, said it would not take part in what it called the “politics of power” that ignores the voice of the Kashmiri people.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have formed an electoral alliance, under which the PPP ceded constituencies LA-14 (Bagh-I) and LA-23 (Poonch and Sudhanoti-VI) to JUI-F. PPP candidates are contesting the remaining 43 seats.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has fielded 44 candidates, followed by the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) with 38, Muslim Conference and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) with 36 each, the Pakistan National Party (PNP) with 14, and the Jammu Kashmir People’s Party (JKPP) contesting nine seats.
Political parties have intensified campaigning through corner meetings and rallies across AJK. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari arrived in the region on July 14, 2026, to lead his party’s campaign.
PML-N President Nawaz Sharif is expected to address a rally in Muzaffarabad on July 21 and another in Mirpur on July 24, as major parties ramp up their final push ahead of the phased voting.
