Election Commission reviews Lok Sabha poll preparedness with state CEOs

Through the two day conference, several aspects regarding the conduct of elections were discussed.

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India organised a two-day conference of the Chief Electoral Officers of all the states and UTs to review the poll preparedness for the upcoming general elections. The primary focus of the Election Commission in the meeting that was held on 11, 12 January was the integrity of the electoral roll, meticulous planning for elections, EVM and VVPAT assessment and training and extensive voter outreach.

Addressing the CEOs, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Sunil Arora emphasised on the fact that the electoral roll that is currently under the process of revision and finalisation will be used in the forthcoming general elections. He also said that every effort must be made so that all voters are registered well in time.

He reaffirmed the significance of the 1950 Helpline for the voters and its role as the First point of Care for the voter in finding her name in the Role, EPIC status and in connecting to the Election machinery and exercising her democratic right. He directed all the state CEOs to set in place support systems for the 1950 Helpline as early as possible.

Through the two day conference, several aspects regarding conducting of elections including the availability of sufficient budget, manpower, resources, SVEEP, planning, polling station arrangements and IT applications including Suvidha, Sugam and C-Vigil were discussed in detail and their preparedness was assessed.

The five states which had recently undergone Assembly elections – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Telangana and Rajasthan gave a presentation on the takeaways and the learnings from their experiences. All the other CEOs of States and UTs made comprehensive presentations to the Commission on the key areas of their preparations for the forthcoming elections.