20 March, 2025 : The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced major reforms to enhance electoral transparency and voter participation, as stated in a press note issued by P. Pawan, Deputy Director, ECI. A key initiative is the removal of duplicate EPIC numbers across the country, which is set to be completed within three months.
To ensure accurate voter rolls, ECI will collaborate with UIDAI and birth and death registration authorities. The Commission reaffirmed that voter list updates follow a structured legal process, with only 89 first appeals and one second appeal filed after the Special Summary Revision (SSR) in January 2025.
Polling stations will be placed within 2 km of voters, with no station exceeding 1,200 electors. In urban areas, high-rise buildings and colonies will have polling stations within their premises to boost turnout. A large-scale digital training program is also being launched for nearly 1 crore election officials, featuring multilingual training kits and animated instructional videos.
To increase political party involvement, nearly 5,000 all-party meetings have been conducted, and parties have been invited to submit suggestions on electoral matters by April 30, 2025. These initiatives reaffirm ECI’s commitment to a transparent, efficient, and inclusive electoral process.
