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Commonwealth Chief Election Officers to discuss best practice

24 February 2005

Senior election managers from 38 countries will meet in New Delhi, India, from 24 to 26 February 2005 to discuss ways of improving the management of elections in Commonwealth countries.

Voting in the 2004 Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Mozambique.

The Conference of Commonwealth Chief Election Officers is organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat in co-operation with the Election Commission of India. Some 33 chief election officers will be among those participating in the conference, titled 'Improving the Quality of Election Management'. It will focus on three areas -- the role and nature of the election management body; the use of technology; and the relationship between election management bodies and political parties. 

Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Indian Parliament), will open the session on 24 February. T S Krishna Murthy, Chief Election Commissioner of India, and Amitav Banerji, Head of the Commonwealth Secretary-General's Office, will also address the participants. 

The Election Commission of India is arranging for participants to be present for voting in state elections near New Delhi on 23 February, on the eve of the conference, and for vote counting on 27 February.  

This is the eighth meeting of Commonwealth Chief Election Officers organised by the Secretariat in the past 12 years. The last such Commonwealth-wide meeting was held in the United Kingdom in 1998. These meetings aim to promote best practice in election management. A report reflecting the main themes of the discussion and the broad conclusions reached will be issued following the conference. 

 

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service  Issue 223 23 February 2005