Election Commission holds conference with CEOs of States and UTs to review poll process

The Election Commission on Monday held a conference with Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states and Union Territories. The meeting chaired by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra was held to review issues related to the poll process in the country.

CEC Sushil Chandra highlighted on ''expeditious redressal of all pending applications especially with regard to voter registration''.

CEC Chandra urges CEOs of states to ensure better voter experience

In a statement, an EC spokesperson said that various issues concerning electoral rolls, polling stations, ongoing special summary revision, IT (information technology) applications, timely resolution of grievances, electronic voting machines (EVMs), voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT), training and capacity building of polling staff, media and communication and extensive voter outreach program amongst others were discussed and reviewed in the meeting. 

Stressing on the significance of effectiveness and visibility of the CEOs in the state, Chandra urged the CEOs to ensure the purity of the electoral roll, better facilities at all polling booths for all voters, and availability of assured minimum facilities. 

Emphasizing the need to regularly interact with political parties to avoid further grievances, Chandra advised the CEOs to focus on new initiatives and best practices for election-related activities which should be regularly disseminated through the media for enhanced outreach. 

He said that the conference was held with an aim to identify the gaps and challenges. And to further ensure instructions of the commission are implemented uniformly in all states and union territories across the country.

EC holds conference with States/UTs CEO

Election commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey were also present at the conference and interacted to the officers. Kumar said the legal and regulatory framework of the elections is quite robust, and that the CEOs must be innovative and active to learn from each others' best practices and challenges. 

While Pandey said that as the effectiveness of EC activities depends upon the effective implementation by field-level election officials, CEOs must ensure good training and capacity building of BLOs (booth level officers). During the conference, the commission released a number of publications including a 'Compendium of Cases on Election Law' and an 'Information Booklet For Voters'.

(With PTI inputs)

(Image: PTI)