Exhibition: Unfolding Indian Elections & SVEEP Initiatives

On the occasion of National Consultation on Accessible Elections organised on July 3rd & 4th July, 2018, an exhibition was setup by Election Commission of India showcasing the journey of elections in India, the largest democracy in the world. The Exhibition was inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat and Election Commissioners Sunil Arora and Ashok Lavasa, marking the beginning of the proceedings.

The exhibition comprised two sections:

1. Unfolding Indian Elections: India has been able to uphold its democracy, through the ebb and flow of the political and security challenges. Proving its detractors wrong, the country has survived the crisis that befell on many Asian and African nations in post-colonial era. A large measure of credit goes to the free and fair elections. They have reflected people’s will and provided for seamless transition of power at the Centre and States.

2. SVEEP initiatives: Recent SVEEP initiatives & endeavours were showcased including the new initiatives for PwDs.Following are the snippets from the exhibition showcasing the stepping stone of this journey.

Model Polling Booth

A Model Polling Booth was set-up during the two days National Consultation on Accessible Elections. The Consultation saw the participation of more than 50 Civil Society Organizations and all the Chief Electoral Officers of States/UTs besides members of National Political Parties and Ministries, Government of India and media. The motive of the Model Polling Booth was to familiarise the stakeholders with the process of voting and related aspects. Persons with Disabilities were motivated to take up the Mock Poll and provide the feedback which was further incorporated in the recommendations.

The National Consultation on Accessible Elections was the culmination of more than 3month long series of District-Level and State-Level Workshops undertaken as a part of ECI’s theme for 2018- Accessible Elections, to identify barriers in the inclusion of PwDs in the electoral process, assess the present accessibility policies in place and put forward recommendations for addressing barriers to enhance the participation of the differently-abled.