CEO's Desk

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In the age of information and e-governance, the State Election Department is dedicated to reaching out to people to provide better services in terms of; exact Electoral Rolls, Photo Identity Cards, digitization of maps depicting areas of the polling stations, distances, etc., creating awareness about their rights and duties by bringing about transparency in the system, a citizen-friendly approach and better management of data. The department shares its vision with the Election Commission of India to provide online services to every eligible voter with the ultimate target of; e-voting in the coming years.

Elections cannot be viewed as a stand-alone event but it is a part of an analytical approach for promoting democratic governance. Greater public information & outreach capacity, transparency, capacity building, and empowerment of the citizens are the key areas, which are being emphasized by the Department of Election. Amongst its many functions upgrading and updating of Electoral Rolls is a continuous process. MIS has helped in creating a system where we are in constant touch with the electors through various means. In times to come, we intend to strengthen the process by plotting the coverage of polling stations on the digital map of Uttarakhand. The Department is working towards the free flow of information and online processing of electoral data and the production of Photo Identity Cards at the District headquarters level. The people are the best judge to review the quality of services provided in terms of their basic requirements, empowerment, and assessment. We seek the active cooperation of all the citizens of Uttarakhand to set up a truly citizen-friendly, transparent, and fair system. We also seek your suggestions for further improving the system and increasing public satisfaction.

The Chief Electoral Office in Uttarakhand works under the guidance of the Election Commission of India. The elections to the State Assembly and both houses of Parliament are conducted by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer. He/She is responsible for conducting free and fair elections across the State of Uttarakhand.

In all 13 districts, District Magistrate is the District Election Officer. For Election related work District Election Officers work under the superintendence (direction or guidance or management) of the Chief Electoral Officer. The Chief Electoral Officer's Office along with the District Election Officer, Deputy District Election Officer, and Assistant District Election Officer level officers are responsible for the proper conduct of elections, preparation of Rolls, providing Electors' Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), arrangement of Polling Stations, provision of men and material, enforcing model code of conduct, keeping track of candidate's expenditure are the major tasks during every election.

This State has always had a reputation for free, fair peaceful elections in the past. The demands on the election machinery are very high. I have no hesitation in placing on record that the results reflect the best efforts made by the election machinery working under the guidance of ECI for the conduct of free, fair, and peaceful elections. The site of Uttarakhand elections provides a lot of information and statistics which I'm sure, will be of general interest to many and academic interest to some. The elections always have some interesting features and it's our responsibility to share and publish the facts, figures, and features quickly in the public interest.

Sd/-
(Dr. B.V.R.C. Purshottam )
Chief Electoral Officer
Uttarakhand