ECI To Host National Conference Of State Election Commissioners

The National SEC Conference is being convened after a gap of over 25 years, the previous meeting having been held in 1999. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, will chair the conference together with the Election Commissioners Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi and will address the State Election Commissioners at the inaugural ceremony. The agenda has been prepared to facilitate exchange of best practices and to review coordination mechanisms between central and state bodies.

Participants will include State Election Commissioners with their legal experts and technical teams and the sessions will examine electoral laws, elector eligibility across States and UTs, and statutory responsibilities. Technological interventions spearheaded by the ECI, including the recently launched ECINET digital platform and electronic voting machines, will feature in technical demonstrations and deliberations. The conference will aim to strengthen logistical planning, standardise procedures where feasible and identify areas for capacity building within existing legal frameworks.

The ECI will draw on its experience of preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of elections under the Constitution and national laws to offer guidance to State Election Commissions. State Election Commissions are constituted by the law of the respective states under the empowering provisions of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments. They are vested with the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the Panchayats and Municipal Bodies.