E-Paper
Election management bodies can work together to counter fake narratives: CEC
The CEC was speaking during a discussion with the executive board members of the (A- WEB) at the 11th meeting of the member countries held in Cartagena, Colombia. A-WEB is the largest association of EMBs across the world with 119 EMBs as members & 20 regional associations/organisations as associate members
Chief election commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar has said that the Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB), as a global association, plays a critical role in fostering cooperation amongst Election Management Bodies (EMBs), adding that the EMBs, through forums like A-WEB could work together on pressing challenges, including countering fake narratives which are trying to derail the election integrity worldwide.
The CEC was speaking during a discussion with the executive board members of the (A- WEB) at the 11th meeting of the member countries held in Cartagena, Colombia.
A-WEB is the largest association of EMBs across the world with 119 EMBs as members & 20 regional associations/organisations as associate members.
According to the statement released by the election commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday, the participants at the executive board meeting discussed various agendas, including the programmes and activities to be undertaken by A-WEB during 2023-24, the annual progress report of A-WEB & its regional offices including A-WEB India Centre, budget and membership related matters amongst others.
“Forums like A-WEB could play a critical role for EMBs to work on challenges like fake narratives derailing election integrity across the globe, ” Kumar said, according to the statement.
One of the main agendas raised in the meeting by the CEC included setting up an A-WEB portal to serve as a repository of electoral best practices and initiatives. Kumar also pitched for establishing A-WEB Global Awards for EMBs who make significant contributions and take important initiatives in the democratic processes.
An international conference on the theme “A global view on the challenges of regional elections 2023” is also being organised by National Civil Registry, Colombia on July 13, 2023, the ECI’s statement read.
The other ECI delegation present at the meeting included Manoj Sahoo, deputy election commissioner, and Anuj Chandak, joint director.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines, a bilateral meeting was also held with the National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea on ECIs Electronic Postal Ballot System. India and South Korea had signed an MoU in 2012 for establishing a mutually cooperative relationship in the field of election administration. According to the MoU, both countries are supposed to establish a mutually cooperative relationship in the field of election administration.
A-WEB was launched in the Republic of Korea in October 2013. At a meeting of the A-WEB Executive Board held in Bengaluru in September 2019, an India A-WEB centre was also established in New Delhi for documentation and research for sharing the best practices and training and capacity building of officials of A-WEB members, including a journal titled ‘A-WEB India Journal of Elections.’
The ECI is responsible for providing all the necessary resources for the India A-WEB Centre.
