CEC to address key meet on electoral integrity at Sweden conference

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Gyanesh Kumar, will on Tuesday deliver a keynote address at the International IDEA Stockholm Conference on Electoral Integrity.

Ahead of the event, the CEC today interacted with the Indian diaspora in Sweden and reiterated the Election Commission’s focus on inclusive participation and civic engagement among Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs).

Highlights of his engagement were EC’s initiatives of Online Voter Registration System and the Electronic Transmission of Postal Ballot Management System aimed at enabling greater participation of overseas voters.

Gyanesh Kumar’s presence at the key electoral integrity conference comes at a time when the EC is ironically facing criticism from the Opposition over alleged 'rigging' in 2024 Maharashtra elections, a charge it has firmly dismissed.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been leading the anti-EC offensive with the poll panel asking Gandhi to come and meet him or write to him formally to get a detailed response to his concerns.

In a detailed statement, the EC has rebutted Gandhi’s accusations of inflated electoral rolls and voter turnout in 2024 Maharashtra polls.

At the height of these domestic squabbles CEC will deliver the inaugural keynote address at the Conference beginning tomorrow until June 12.

“The massive scale of the Indian elections and the magnitude of the logistics involved in the exercise evinces keen interest amongst the Election Management Bodies (EMBs) across the world. Over 100 participants representing around 50 countries are taking part in the Conference, which is being organised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) in collaboration with the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish Election Authority, and the Australian Electoral Commission,” the EC said today.

The CEC will also meet senior officials of International IDEA, including Secretary General Kevin Casas-Zamora and Secretary-General of International IDEA.

This would be followed by one-to-one bilateral meetings with the Chief Election Commissioners of nearly 20 countries including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, Mongolia and Switzerland amongst others, reinforcing India’s commitment to global democratic cooperation and the exchange of best practices.

Kumar would also be interacting with other senior international counterparts including Leena Rikkilä Tamang, Director (Asia-Pacific), International IDEA; Elsie T. Nghikembua, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Namibia and Abdool Rahman Mohammad Irfan, Electoral Commissioner of Mauritius.

The Stockholm Conference brings together heads of EMBs, policymakers, and institutional leaders to deliberate on contemporary challenges to electoral integrity.

Key focus areas include disinformation, digital disruption, electoral security, climate-related risks, and the role of Artificial Intelligence in elections.

“As the world’s largest democracy, India has maintained a longstanding partnership with International IDEA, contributing actively to global discourse through its institutional innovations and democratic experiences. Through various capacity building programmes and conferences, the India International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Management, IIIDEM is also emerging as a premier institute for electoral management excellence,” the EC said.