Hari Shankar Brahma, who on Friday took over as the 19th Chief Election Commissioner, said that his priority would be to ensure free and fair assembly elections in Delhi.
“My first priority and mission objective is to ensure that we conduct the election to Delhi Legislative Assembly in an absolutely free and fair manner...the world is watching us as to what we are doing in Delhi," he said soon after assuming charge at Nirvachan Sadan. Polling in Delhi will be held on February 7 and counting will take place on February 10.
Mr. Brahma, who took over from V S Sampath on Thursday, said the long-term goal at the Election Commission is to deliver excellence. He said he would try to implement the latest technology to improve the quality of electoral management.
As a first step, Mr. Brahma said the EC would launch a nationwide Electoral Roll Management System on January 25, National Voter's Day. ERMS will enable internet users across the country to view the complete voters' list and allow them to see details such as the constituency in which they are registered and the polling station where they must vote.
Mr Brahma said the EC would also take the first step toward extending voting rights to NRIs in their country's of residence even as the government works to amend laws according to an eight-week deadline set by the Supreme Court. He said that e-postal ballots would be sent electronically to the NRIs by the concerned district election officer but would have to be posted back as a hard copy.
