What Happened
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) and all State Election Commissioners (SECs) concluded the National Round Table Conference 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 24 February 2026 — the first such meeting in 27 years (the previous conference was held in 1999).
- The conference adopted the "National Declaration 2026," committing to deeper institutional cooperation in electoral management between the ECI and SECs.
- Key elements of the declaration: sharing of ECINET (ECI's integrated election management platform), Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), electoral rolls, and training infrastructure at IIIDEM (India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management).
- Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar emphasised the importance of maintaining accurate electoral rolls, including through the Special Intensive Revision exercise to include all eligible electors and exclude ineligible ones.
- A joint team of legal and technical officers from ECI and SECs will examine all suggestions and submit a state/UT-wise roadmap within three months for further action.
Static Topic Bridges
Election Commission of India: Constitutional Basis under Articles 324–329
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution. It has superintendence, direction, and control over the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of all elections to Parliament, State Legislatures, and the offices of the President and Vice-President. The ECI is distinct from and independent of State Election Commissions — it operates exclusively for elections to Parliament and state legislatures, while local body elections fall under a separate constitutional body.
- Article 324(1): Vests superintendence, direction and control of electoral roll preparation and election conduct in an Election Commission
- Article 324(2): ECI consists of the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners as the President may determine; currently three members (CEC + 2 ECs)
- Article 324(5): The Chief Election Commissioner can only be removed from office through the same process as a Supreme Court judge (impeachment by Parliament); Election Commissioners can be removed on the CEC's recommendation — protecting independence
- Article 325: No voter roll for any constituency to be divided on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex
- Article 326: Elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies on basis of adult suffrage (18+ years since the 61st Amendment, 1988)
- Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023: New law governing appointments — replaced earlier executive order-based process with a selection committee (PM, Leader of Opposition, Cabinet Minister)
- ECI does NOT conduct elections to Panchayats and Municipalities — these are entirely the domain of SECs
Connection to this news: The 27-year gap between the 1999 and 2026 national round tables reflects institutional distance between the ECI and SECs that the National Declaration 2026 seeks to bridge — particularly on electoral roll quality, which affects both local body elections (SECs) and national/state elections (ECI).
State Election Commissions: Constitutional Basis under Articles 243K and 243ZA
State Election Commissions (SECs) were created by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts (1992), which added Part IX (Panchayats) and Part IX-A (Municipalities) to the Constitution. Articles 243K and 243ZA established State Election Commissions in every state as independent constitutional bodies responsible for superintendence, direction, and control of elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies, respectively.
- Article 243K: The State Election Commissioner (SEC) shall be appointed by the Governor; shall not be removed from office except by a procedure identical to that for removing a High Court judge
- Article 243ZA: The SECs' role for Municipal elections mirrors their role for Panchayat elections under Article 243K
- SECs control: Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti/Intermediate Panchayat, Zila Parishad elections; Nagar Panchayat, Municipal Council, Municipal Corporation elections
- ECI and SEC jurisdictions are mutually exclusive: ECI runs Lok Sabha + state assembly elections; SECs run local body elections — same voter, but separate rolls technically (though sharing would reduce duplication)
- Key practical challenge: SEC electoral rolls (for local body elections) are often outdated compared to ECI rolls; the National Declaration 2026 proposes using ECI's more robust and updated rolls as a base for SEC purposes
- Funding and capacity: SECs are significantly under-resourced compared to ECI — training, technology, and logistical capacity vary greatly across states
Connection to this news: The National Declaration 2026's proposal to share ECI electoral rolls and ECINET technology with SECs would resolve a longstanding structural problem: citizens registered on ECI rolls but not on SEC rolls may be disenfranchised in local body elections.
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs): Technical Architecture and Sharing Mechanism
India's Electronic Voting Machine programme is one of the world's largest electoral technology deployments. The ECI uses Mark III (M3) EVMs — the third generation of machines — for all Parliamentary and state assembly elections. The machines are manufactured by two public sector units: Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL, under Ministry of Defence) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL, under Department of Atomic Energy). EVMs have a 15-year operational lifespan; machines at the end of their lifecycle with ECI are typically transferred to SECs for local body elections.
- EVM architecture: Ballot Unit (BU) where voters press button; Control Unit (CU) operated by polling officer; VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) attached since 2013–2014 elections
- M3 EVMs introduced: 2013; used in all Lok Sabha elections from 2014 onwards
- Sharing mechanism: ECI does not charge states for EVM use during assembly elections; retired M3 machines (after 15 years) go to SECs at no cost
- EVM security features: One-time programmable (OTP) chips — cannot be reprogrammed after manufacture; time-stamped — records time of each vote; no wireless connectivity
- Supreme Court on EVMs: In numerous cases (including Subramanian Swamy v. ECI, 2013), the Court upheld EVM reliability; in 2024 post-election petitions, the Court declined to order return to paper ballots
- VVPAT: Voter sees paper slip for 7 seconds confirming their vote; 5 VVPAT units per assembly constituency are now counted and matched to EVM results per SC direction (2019)
Connection to this news: Sharing EVMs with SECs allows local body elections to benefit from the same tamper-evident technology used in parliamentary elections — an important standardisation step, as some SECs currently use ballot papers or older EVM versions for panchayat and municipal elections.
ECINET and Electoral Roll Management: Technology for Voter Services
ECINET is the Election Commission of India's integrated online platform for electoral services — enabling voter registration, corrections, deletion of names, photo upload, Form 6 (new registration), Form 7 (deletion), Form 8 (correction), and real-time electoral roll updates. It is backed by ERONET (Electoral Roll Management System) for internal database management and the Voter Helpline (1950). The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, conducted annually between October and January, is the primary mechanism for updating rolls before each election cycle.
- ECINET: Accessible at voterportal.eci.gov.in; mobile app: Voter Helpline app; enables self-registration and tracking of applications
- ERONET: Backend system linking all EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) and DEOs (District Election Officers) — enables real-time deduplication and updates
- Special Intensive Revision (SIR): Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visit every household in their assigned booths; update rolls for deaths, migrations, new eligible voters; typically October–January
- Summary Revision: Annual exercise for minor corrections; not a full-household visit
- Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC): Issued under Section 25 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950; serves as proof of registration; linking with Aadhaar enabled by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021
- Sharing ECINET with SECs would allow local body elections to use the same citizen database, reducing duplicate registrations, ghost voters, and the administrative burden of maintaining parallel rolls
Connection to this news: The National Declaration 2026's proposal to share ECINET with SECs is technologically significant — a single, continuously updated national voter database would eliminate the fragmentation that currently allows voters to be registered with ECI but not SEC, or vice versa, and would reduce the scope for fraudulent local body elections based on inflated or outdated rolls.
Key Facts & Data
- Article 324: ECI's constitutional basis — superintendence of parliamentary and state assembly elections
- Article 243K: SEC's constitutional basis (73rd Amendment, 1992) — panchayat elections
- Article 243ZA: SEC's constitutional basis (74th Amendment, 1992) — municipal elections
- Last ECI–SEC National Round Table: 1999; this conference: February 24, 2026 (27-year gap)
- National Declaration 2026: Adopted at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi
- Sharing proposed: ECINET, EVMs, Electoral Rolls, IIIDEM training
- Chief Election Commissioner (2026): Gyanesh Kumar
- EVM manufacturers: BEL (Bharat Electronics Limited) and ECIL (Electronics Corporation of India Limited)
- EVM lifespan: 15 years; M3 (Mark III) EVMs used since 2014 Lok Sabha elections
- VVPAT: Mandatory since 2014; 5 units per AC constituency physically counted per SC direction (2019)
- Voter Helpline: 1950; ECINET portal: voterportal.eci.gov.in
- CEC appointment: Now governed by Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023
- India's registered voters (2024 Lok Sabha): approximately 96.8 crore (968 million)