Meghalaya wins National Award for Best Electoral Practices 2020

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SHILLONG

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Meghalaya was selected for a Special Award for Information Technology (IT) applications in Elections by the Election Commission of India (ECI), in the National Best Electoral Practices Awards 2020.

President of India Ram Nath Kovind virtually conferred the award to Meghalaya CEO FR Kharkongor at the National Voters Day Award function held in New Delhi on Monday.

The award recognises the sustained and consistent IT application efforts in electoral activities being made by the Office of the CEO in the entire Enrolment to Elections (E2E) process and for leveraging technology for the benefit of all categories of voters, both general and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

The ECI has consistently been championing the use of technology covering the non-election period, such as voter portal, voter helpline app, SMS, 1950 helpline, political party registration and online tracking.

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The ECI has also launched digital radio “Hello Voters” on Monday to connect and engage with young voters.

Speaking to TNT-The Northeast Today over the phone, Meghalaya CEO FR Kharkongor said that it is a significant moment for the entire team in the state prize for consistent use of IT facilities.

“We are happy that we are trying in our humble way to make voters more engaged. We need to harness the technological tools to bridge the gap between the voter and electoral process,” Kharkongor said.

He informed that this year, the number of new electorates has gone up significantly.

“Now, we have over 20 lakh. We have been increasing from year to year, and the number of new voters has been coming in every year, and we hope that with the increasing use of new technology (new e-EPIC), more young people will come forward and get themselves enrolled,” he added.

(Edited by Christopher Gatphoh)