The Election Commission on Monday held a meeting with the Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) of all the States and Union Territories to deliberate on the learnings from the recently concluded Lok Sabha poll.
The Commission has set up nine working groups of CEOs and Commission officials, covering various facets of the election process. They include the electoral roll, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), voting processes and inventory management, IT applications, expenditure management, and electoral reforms, among other issues.
The groups will deliberate on specific subjects and submit recommendations by August. The CEOs will also share their experience in their respective States.
Addressing the CEOs, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said the recent elections had thrown up a “fair share of challenges” for them. He complimented the CEOs for successfully managing the gigantic exercise of holding polls across the country.
‘Simplification’
Mr. Arora asked the CEOs to now focus on simplification of the processes from the voters’ perspective. He noted that conducting elections in a diverse country like India had its specific State-wise challenges.
Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa said while the ECI system had well-documented and had codified procedures for conducting polls, officials needed to adapt technology in measuring up to the expectations of voters in achieving ease of registration and facilitating greater participation.
He asked the CEOs to come up with short, medium and long-term administrative and legal recommendations needed for bettering the electoral system.
