Pakistan, July 27 -- According to a press conference held by Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Chief Secretary Khushal Khan and the Election Commission Secretary on Sunday, polling material has reached Mirpur, where 17,000 security personnel have been deployed for the first phase of the AJK Assembly elections. Election campaigns are in full swing, and more than 1.4 million voters are due to choose representatives for 13 seats across Mirpur, Bhimber and Kotli.

After frenzied weeks of shutdowns and anxious speculation, the beginning of the polling process offers the people of the picturesque valley something more durable: a constitutional route back into the argument over their future.

The Election Commission's decision to divide the exercise ...