JAMMU: The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Jammu and Kashmir, on Tuesday organised its first International Conference on Global Best Practices in Polling Day Operations in a hybrid format, bringing together election experts and officials from across the world.
The conference, held at Nirvachan Bhawan in Jammu, was attended by 60 participants in person, while another 115 joined virtually.
Organised under India’s chairmanship of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the event forms part of a thematic research initiative being undertaken by the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) and the Election Commission of India.
The J&K CEO’s office is currently preparing a comparative study of polling-day operations across 92 countries spanning Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania.
In his inaugural address, Chief Electoral Officer Sanjeev Verma highlighted the complexities of election management, stating that polling day requires the simultaneous delivery of secrecy, equality, accessibility and integrity across thousands of polling stations under strict timelines.
Joint Chief Electoral Officer Anil Salgotra presented the framework of the study, which examines polling-day operations through seven key pillars — legal framework, polling places, voting procedures, equipment and technology, inclusiveness and accessibility, security and transparency, and post-poll processes such as counting, custody and audit.
He informed that the study is based on a 60-point questionnaire covering 92 countries and draws upon election laws, regulations and international observation reports. The exercise has generated a database of more than 5,000 data points for comparative analysis.
The conference also featured technical sessions on each of the seven pillars, during which key findings of the study were presented and discussed.
Among the speakers were Antonio Spinelli, Principal Adviser for International IDEA-IIIDEM Cooperation; District Election Officer Jammu, Rakesh Minhas; Khatia Lachashvili, Chairperson of the Gldani District Election Commission, Central Election Commission of Georgia; and Professor (Brig) Neeraj Soni of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu.
