As the dates for the elections were announced, the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), an amalgam of different pro-azadi groups, called for a boycott. Militant organisations like Hizbul Mujahideen issued threats against people taking part in elections. In response, the state placed a number of JRL leaders under house arrest.
As the electoral process proceeded, authorities maintained utmost secrecy about the candidates, and election officers were instructed not to divulge any information to the media. "Ask anyone here if they know who the candidates are. Everyone will tell you, they have no idea. There is too much secrecy," a resident of Srinagar told the Press Trust of India (PTI). A resident of Ganderbal was quoted as saying, "There are simply no details anywhere. Only the candidate would know that he is contesting. Perhaps, even their family does not, such is the secrecy." In a ward in Baramulla, a candidate won with a lone vote cast – probably his own. In another ward in Srinagar, where three candidates had filed the nominations, no votes were cast, not even those by the candidates.
Even in areas of the state where polling was higher, such as the Chenab Valley in the Jammu region, people's enthusiasm was low. Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal, executive editor of the Kashmir Times notes, "Usually in the local body polls the enthusiasm is much higher because these are not really linked to the mainstream politics in the way that the parliamentary and the assembly polls are. But even in the Chenab valley region, where people may have voted because these are 'backward areas', there were questions they were constantly asking, like what kind of a farce is this where political parties were not even able to find candidates to contest elections. In fact, for BJP, in many pockets of Poonch belt, in [the] Chenab region, they were unable to find any candidates to contest the elections."
At many places, the candidates were kept in 'secured accommodations'. However, information was leaked, and fearing that the candidates might withdraw, they were moved again to unknown locations and police stations. This secrecy, the government argued, was maintained for the safety of the candidates, as the militant outfits had issued stern warnings against electoral participation. A week before, two Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (NC) workers were killed by unidentified gunmen in Srinagar.