ECI, SECs Should Work Together Keeping Elector In Mind In National Interest: Gyanesh Kumar

New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said on Tuesday that in national interest and Constitutional synergies, the Election Commission of India (ECI) and State Election Commissions (SECs) should work together keeping the elector in mind.

The CEC said this in his address, in the presence of Election Commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, at the National Round Table Conference of the State Election Commissioners, held after 27 years, here.

He underscored the importance of strengthening institutional coordination between the ECI and SECs within their respective constitutional mandates. Kumar emphasised the need for harmonised approaches in electoral roll management, adoption of technology, and sharing of best practices to further enhance the integrity and efficiency of electoral processes in the country.

Sandhu, in his address, exhorted the SECs to learn from each other and adopt each other's best practices. He underlined that trust is the foundation of every electoral process and thus it is important that both the ECI and SECs work in coordination.

Speaking on the importance of collaboration in digital technologies, Joshi stressed upon leveraging the ECINET digital platform to build bridges between the functioning of the ECI and the SECs.

The day long national level Conference, organised by the ECI, was attended by State Election Commissioners and Chief Electoral Officers of all states and Union Territories. The main objective of the conference was to promote synergies between the ECI and SECs concerning electoral processes and logistics within their respective legal frameworks.

The National Round Table Conference of the ECI and State Election Commissioners concluded with the unanimous adoption of the 'National Declaration 2026' under the leadership of the CEC, which stated preparation of pure electoral rolls is the bedrock of democracy, and the transparent conduct of elections in an efficient manner strengthens democracy.

"In National and Constitutional interest, ECI suggested to work out mutually acceptable mechanisms and legally viable frameworks to synergise with all SECS across the country for all possible election processes, including the sharing of ECINET, EVMS, Electoral Rolls and the world-class Infrastructure at IIIDEM," read the declaration.

The ECI and SECs will work together to synergise the laws relating to the elections to Panchayats and Municipal Bodies with those relating to the elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures, it said.

The ECI also requested the SECs to come forward and participate in international engagements of ECI and proposed to hold such a National Round Table Conference with ECI once every year, preferably along with the international conferences being chaired by it.

"All suggestions given by SECs in this National Round Table Conference will be studied in detail by a joint team of legal and technical officers led by concerned DECs of ECI. A State/UT-wise way forward will be submitted to the ECI in the next three months for the best possible decision in the national interest," read the declaration.

The CEC launched the book “A Confluence of Democracies”. During the day-long conference, discussions focused around sharing of technology, EVMs and Electoral Rolls, besides strengthening of electoral processes.

Senior officials of the poll panel made presentations on key technological and operational initiatives, including the recently launched ECINET digital platform and its transformative potential in streamlining electoral services. Presentations also highlighted robustness, transparency and safeguards of the EVMs.

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