New Delhi [India], February 25 (HBTV): The Election Commission of India (ECI) will organise a conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of states and Union Territories (UTs) on March 4-5 at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management in New Delhi.

This is the first such conference since Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). For the first time, CEOs have been instructed to nominate a District Election Officer (DEO) and an Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to participate in the conference.

Gyanesh Kumar has called all state CEOs to brainstorm and learn from each other’s experiences during the two-day conference. Over 100 participants, including CEOs of all states and UTs, DEOs, and EROs—key functionaries in the election process—will attend the event.

He stated that, in accordance with the Constitution of India and electoral laws, rules, and instructions, the Election Commission ‘was, is, and will always be with the voters.’

The CEO conference will provide a platform to further this vision with discussions on key themes, including technology architecture, the statutory role of different authorities in election processes, communication, social media, and voter outreach.

On the first day, participants will discuss key areas of modern election management, including IT architecture, effective communication, enhancing social media outreach, and the statutory role of different functionaries in electoral processes.

On the second day, CEOs from states and UTs will present their respective action plans based on the previous day's thematic discussions.

Earlier, newly appointed CEC Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge on February 19 and, in his message to voters, emphasised that the first step in nation-building is voting.

‘The first step for nation-building is voting. Therefore, every citizen of India who has completed 18 years of age should become an elector and should always vote. In accordance with the Constitution of India, electoral laws, rules, and instructions issued therein, the Election Commission of India was, is, and will always be with the voters,’ Kumar said, speaking to the media.

Gyanesh Kumar is a 1988-batch IAS officer from the Kerala cadre and is senior to the two other commissioners on the three-member panel led by Rajiv Kumar. The other commissioners are Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, an officer from the Uttarakhand cadre, and Vivek Joshi.

The newly appointed Election Commissioner, Vivek Joshi, also assumed charge as Election Commissioner in pursuance of the Ministry of Law & Justice Gazette notification dated February 17, 2025. He is a 1989-batch IAS officer from the Haryana cadre.

(ANI)