New Delhi: The India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) organized a 2-day Consultative Workshop for the Delegation from the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Kazakhstan from April 16-17, 2018 at Nirvachan Sadan, Election Commission of India, New Delhi. The six-member delegation comprised of the Vice-Chairman of CEC, Kazakhstan and other Senior Officials. The workshop aimed to hold interactive discussions on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) & Role of IT and Conduct of Training Programme.
The Chief Election Commissioner of India Shri O. P. Rawat talked about the Indian EVM which is being used for the past 20 years in the Indian elections. Shri Rawat said that EVM is a unique voting machine and has multiple features which bring transparency in elections. Yet, there are times when people raise questions on its credibility. To clear all possible doubts, the Election Commission makes constant efforts and goes out of the way to address the concerns. In wake of the upcoming state legislative elections in Karnataka, the Commission is inviting the public to have a hands-on demonstration of EVM & VVPAT. Shri Rawat explained to the participants the features and advantages VVPAT, or Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, in making the election process transparent for the voter. Shri Rawat also invited the delegation to have a Memorandum of Understanding with ECI and IIIDEM for collaborating in the field of election management.
The Election Commissioner Shri Ashok Lavasa said that exchange of ideas between different countries is extremely beneficial for all of us in working towards the objective of strengthening our democracies. Shri Lavasa said that in the last two centuries, democracy has found roots in countries around the world. During the same time, technology has also grown manifold. It is, thus, important to understand how technology can be used to strengthen democracy. Shri Lavasa added that in a country like India, about 11 million persons are deployed for conduct of elections and all of them undergo training to be equipped to handle the dynamics of elections.
Deputy Election Commissioner Mr. Sudeep Jain said that during the rollout of EVMs, the Election Commission faced a number of challenges but always overcame them. Today, the EVM has been fully accepted by the 80-plus million electors of India. Mr. Jain told the participants that the current workshop would talk about the various forms of electoral technology being used to continuously improve the election processes in India. He hoped that the ECI would be able to learn from the challenges faced by CEC, Kazakhstan, and be able to address the same. Mr. Jain added that IIIDEM, so far, has conducted international training programmes for 83-plus countries across the world.
Mr. Konstantin Petrov, Vice-Chairman of the CEC, Kazakhstan, said that the delegation was visiting the ECI for the first time to understand challenges that India faces in its elections, on the use of Indian EVM, and to share their country experiences. Mr. Petrov told the Commission that Kazakhstan is in the process of introducing IT in elections and is also considering the use of electronic machine technology. Ms. Sabila Mustafina, Secretary, Kazakhstan, said that the delegation hoped to learn the various aspects of conducting training programmes on elections and voting.
Senior Advisor at IIIDEM Dr. Bhagbanprakash extended a warm welcome to the participants and urged them to actively participate in the discussions and knowledge sharing exercises. He said that the workshop has been divided into two days wherein the first day would cater to the use of EVM & technology in elections while the second day would focus on capacity building for training programmes.
Electoral Expert at IIIDEM Dr. Noor Mohammad briefed the participants on the schedule of the 2-day workshop. The key topics of the programme included challenges in electoral technologies, online voter registration, transmission of results, apps and electoral services, electoral capacity building, training of trainers and facilitators, among others. Dr. Mohammad said that the training would readily accept recommendations from participants on similar topics which may have been left out in the programme.
Mr. Vivek Khare, Director (Training), ECI, gave a vote of thanks to the delegation from Kazakhstan, the Commission, and senior officials of ECI and the IIIDEM staff. He looked forward to a fruitful interaction for a greater learning experience.
