The Election Commission of India inaugurated the India International Conference on Democracy and Election Management (IICDEM) 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, marking it as the country’s largest event dedicated to election management and democratic practices. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, welcomed nearly 60 international delegates at the formal reception ceremony. The grand inaugural session saw a turnout of around 1,000 participants, including representatives from 42 election management bodies, ambassadors, high commissioners, experts, senior officers of the Election Commission, and chief electoral officers from India’s states and union territories.
The Chief Election Commissioner highlighted the significant progress of election management bodies in recent years and emphasized India’s role as the world’s largest democracy, conducting elections across 28 states and 8 union territories for a population exceeding 1.5 billion. He stressed the importance of maintaining citizens’ trust in these institutions. Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu underlined the citizen’s central role in electoral processes, emphasizing the duty of election management bodies worldwide to uphold voters’ faith. Vivek Joshi, another Election Commissioner, described the conference as a crucial platform uniting election administrators, researchers, students, and practitioners to enhance global institutional contributions.
The conference, organized by the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) under the Election Commission of India, aims to promote dialogue on electoral best practices, innovation, transparency, and cooperation. The event theme, “democracy for an inclusive, peaceful, resilient, and sustainable world,” reflects the multifaceted role democracy must play in addressing contemporary challenges. A highlight of the conference was the screening of excerpts from the upcoming docu-series “India Decides,” a collaborative project with Warner Bros. Discovery. The series delves into India’s electoral processes, known for managing one of the most complex election mandates globally.
