CEC urges CEOs of States, UTs to sustain year-round effort to engage with new voters

Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra on Wednesday stated that the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all the States and UTs should sustain a year-round effort to engage with new voters for registration and other services such as correction and change of address for existing voters to be delivered swiftly and efficiently.

Chandra, during a virtual conference of the CEOs of all the States and UTs, emphasised that CEOs should make sustained year-round efforts to engage with new voters for registration and other services like correction, change of address for existing voters and awareness of hassle-free facilitation platforms of Election Commission.

The Chief Election Commissioner also stressed on the importance of periodic review meetings for revamping back-end systems so that voter-centric services can be delivered swiftly and efficiently on priority.

Chandra said, "CEO review meetings would be institutionalized and will be organized more frequently."

He reiterated the importance of an updated and error-free electoral roll.

Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey said, "The non-election period should be utilised by CEOs to consolidate and fill up gaps of manpower resources and Infrastructure, plan for communication and awareness activities and step up training and capacity building as per their state-specific needs."

During the conference, the CEOs of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal shared their experiences and lessons from conducting elections during the pandemic. The CEOs of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh particularly briefed the Commission about various challenges, innovations and suggestions for upcoming assembly elections in their respective states.

The Commission also e-launched the 'Atlas on General Elections 2019', during the virtual review meeting. The Atlas encompasses all the data and statistical figures of this monumental event. This Atlas includes various facets of the elections.

( With inputs from ANI )