Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)-
As per section 13A of the
Representation of the People Act
1950, read with section 20 of
the Representation of the People
Act, 1951, the Chief Electoral
Officer of a State/ Union
Territory is authorised to
supervise the election work in
the State/Union Territory
subject to the overall
superintendence, direction and
control of the Election
Commission. The District
Election Officer (DEO) -
As per section 13AA of the
Representation of the People Act
1950, subject to the
superintendence, direction and
control of the Chief Electoral
Officer, the District Election
Officer supervises the election
work of a district. Returning
Officer (RO) -
The Returning Officer of a
parliamentary or assembly
constituency is responsible for
the conduct of elections in the
parliamentary or assembly
constituency concerned as per
section 21 of the Representation
of the People Act 1951.
Electoral Registration Officer (ERO)-
The Electoral Registration
officer is responsible for the
preparation of electoral rolls
for a parliamentary / assembly
constituency. Presiding Officer
- The Presiding Officer with the
assistance of polling officers
conducts the poll at a polling
station. Observer - Under
section 20B of the
Representationof the People Act
1951, the Election Commission of
India nominates officers of
Government as Observers (General
Observers and Election
Expenditure Observers) for
parliamentary and assembly
constituencies. They perform
such functions as are entrusted
to them by the Commission.
Earlier, the appointment of
Observers was made under the
plenary powers of the
Commission. But with the
amendments made to the
Representation of the People
Act, 1951 in 1996, these are now
statutory appointments. They
report directly to the
Commission.
