2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags: Election, international institution

INDIA INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DEMOCRACY AND ELECTION MANAGEMENT (IIIDEM)

For: Preliminary & Mains
Topic covers: Election Management Bodies (EMBs), IIIDEM, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), ECI

News Flash

Heads and representatives of 20 Election Management Bodies (EMBs) from across the world, namely Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Fiji, Georgia, Kenya, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Romania, Russia, Sri Lanka, Suriname, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe and International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) have arrived in New Delhi to witness the ongoing General Elections.

More than 65 such delegates have been invited by Election Commission of India to join the Election Visitors Programme.

The delegates visited various polling stations in Delhi and Haryana to see the polling in action.
Thereafter, the delegation visited the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM).

India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM)

For efficient and flawless delivery of free and fair elections, the ECI established the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) in June 2011.
The Institute is an instrument for the ECI to continually keep its tools of election management and democracy sharp, ready, and up-to-date.
IIDEM is an advanced resource centre of learning, research, training and extension for participatory democracy and election management.
It has been developed in collaboration with the Union Government, United Nations, Commonwealth and inter-governmental organisations like Sweden based International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
IIIDEM is headed by a Director General.
The IIIDEM is presently housed in the premises of the Election Commission of India.

Institute has the following centers of excellence:

Centre for Training and Capacity Development
Centre for International Cooperation and Capacity Building
Centre for IT and E- Learning
Centre for Voter Education
Centre for Innovation, Research and Documentation
Centre for Electoral Laws

Election Management Body and Administration(EMB)

An EMB is the body legally responsible for managing some or all of the essential elements to an election.

These core elements include, among others:

Determining who is eligible to vote
Receiving and validating the nominations of political parties and/or candidates and producing ballots
Conducting polling
Counting the votes
Tabulating and announcing the election results.

If these essential elements are allocated to various bodies, then all bodies sharing these responsibilities are EMBs in some respect.

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)

IDEA is an intergovernmental organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world, to develop sustainable, effective and legitimate democracies.

The organization’s headquarters is in Stockholm, Sweden. There are currently 31 member states.
International IDEA’s mission is to “advance democracy worldwide, as a universal human aspiration and an enabler of sustainable development, through support to the building, strengthening and safeguarding of democratic political institutions and processes at all levels.

International IDEA is dedicated to the following tasks:

Assist countries build capacity to develop democratic institutions.
Provide a forum between policy-makers, academics and practitioners.
Synthesize research and field experience, and develop practical tools to improve democratic processes.
Promote accountability, transparency and efficiency in election management.
Facilitate local democracy assessment, monitoring and promotion by local citizens.

Election Commission of India

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India.

The Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act.
The commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a given situation in the conduct of an election.

Source: Business Standard

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