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NEW DELHI: Expressing concerns over global election trends such as declining turnout, abusive campaigns, violence and fake narratives, Election Management Bodies (EMBs) from 14 nations including India on Friday agreed to form a working group of all willing EMBs worldwide to deal with issues of social media, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
Adopting the ‘Delhi Declaration 2025’ at the end of two-day international conference on ‘Global Election Year 2024: Reiteration of Democratic Spaces; Key Takeaways for EMBs’ organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the participating EMBs concurred that the proposed working group will meet on regular basis, virtually or physically, to take stock of the evolving challenges and collectively take up critical issues with big tech entities and other stakeholders. “Towards the…end, we resolve to collaborate with each other bilaterally and collectively for consistently enhancing the efficiency and quality of elections through existing and new formats and fora,” states the declaration.
Along with ECI, the EMBs who adopted the Delhi Declaration were from Mauritius, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Namibia, Indonesia, Russia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Tunisia, Ireland and Georgia.
Recognising technology as an important tool and facilitator in delivering smooth and fair elections, the EMBs in the Delhi Declaration agreed to pursue the path of technological integration and innovation to make their operations more efficient and effective.
They resolved to vigorously resist all fake narratives that may be created to undermine the electoral process, and the conduct of elections as prescribed under our respective laws and not allow these narratives to overwhelm their duties in any manner.
The EMBs said they would remain committed to transparent, credible and inclusive polls and to election integrity and not succumb to any undue pressure or influence that could derail them from their constitutional and statutory duties and the law of the land.
Apart from agreeing to maintain the purity of electoral rolls, the EMBs promised to uphold voters’ rights and facilitate them in the electoral process through voter education and increased enrolment.
The EMBs, while acknowledging that confidence of voters and all other stakeholders in the electoral process is paramount, concurred that robust judicial mechanisms must be put in place to deal with post-election grievances.
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