New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday convened the third Conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all States and Union Territories this year at the India International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM) in the capital to assess preparations for the upcoming nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The conference was inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in the presence of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
The focus was on ensuring uniformity, transparency, and inclusivity in the revision exercise across the country.
Highlighting best practices, the CEO of Bihar made a detailed presentation on strategies, constraints, and innovations adopted during the state’s SIR process, offering lessons for counterparts from other regions.
The CEOs of various States and UTs presented data on the number of electors, the qualifying date of the last revision, and the status of electoral rolls as per the last completed SIR.
They also shared updates on digitisation and uploading of rolls on official CEO websites, along with efforts to map current electors against past records.
To ensure equitable representation and accessibility, the Commission reviewed the rationalisation of polling stations, reiterating its mandate that no polling station should have more than 1,200 electors.
The conference also emphasised inclusivity in the enrolment process. CEOs suggested a set of documents to make voter registration easier while maintaining integrity, with the Commission underscoring that no eligible citizen should be left out and no ineligible individual included.
Further, the Commission took stock of the appointment and training status of District Election Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and Booth Level Agents (BLAs), who play critical roles in the SIR exercise.
(IANS)
