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India’s Kashmir holds first regional election since losing autonomy

At stake are seats in the region’s 90-member legislature, which will make laws and approve local governing decisions.

Voters have begun casting their ballots in regional elections in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Kashmiris lined up outside polling stations on Wednesday morning to vote in a local government election for the first time since the disputed territory lost its semi-autonomous status in 2019.

Nine million registered voters will choose members of the Himalayan region’s 90-seat legislature. After Wednesday’s first phase of voting, second and third rounds will be held on September 25 and October 1. Votes will be counted on October 8, with results expected the same day.

Kashmiri political analyst Sheikh Showkat Hussain told Al Jazeera the election is significant because it has “become a sort of referendum” on the region’s historic special status, which was revoked by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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