Haryana Chief Electoral Officer, Sh. Pankaj Agarwal said that as per the guidelines of the Election Commission, Chief Electoral Officers of states and union territories are responsible for ensuring free and transparent elections. Over the past month, the Election Commission has organised training programmes for capacity building of more than 1 crore election officers and employees.
He said that meetings have been held with around 5,000 representatives of political parties at the level of state election registration officers, district election officers, and chief electoral officers. The Election Commission also shared that India, as a strong democracy, has nearly 100 crore registered voters who participate in the electoral process, strengthening the country's reputation globally.
Besides this, the Commission will soon consult experts from UIDAI and other relevant fields on technical aspects. The Chief Electoral Officer further said that though an elector can only vote in the assigned polling booth and nowhere else, the Commission has resolved to remove duplicates countrywide in EPIC numbers and end a decades-long issue within 3 months.
He said that the booth level agents of political parties play an important role in preparing an error-free voter list, which provides accurate information about the voter to the booth level officer. The process of updating voter lists is continuous and overseen by the Chief Electoral Officer, he added.
He said that the process of ensuring the participation of political parties in the election process has to be completed by the Chief Electoral Officers at the all-India level. The Election Commission of India has also invited suggestions from political parties till April 30, 2025. Besides this, the parties have also been extended an invitation to meet the Commission in Delhi at a mutually convenient time.