Overview
- The New Delhi round-table, the first since 1999, gathered CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, State Election Commissioners from all states and UTs, and Chief Electoral Officers from all 36 jurisdictions.
- The declaration backs sharing of ECINET, Electronic Voting Machines and electoral rolls to improve coordination between national and state poll bodies.
- The Election Commission will provide training through its India International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Management and help states develop ECINET-like platforms.
- Technical points reaffirmed include use of M3 EVMs with a 15-year shelf life, no charges to states for machines, secure destruction at end of life, and reclassification once devices leave ECI custody.
- Participants stressed that maintaining accurate electoral rolls is fundamental to transparent and efficient conduct of elections.