The 2017 Executive Board meeting and the General Assembly of the AAEA was held on 20 March, 2017 in Manila, Philippines. Dr. Nasim Zaidi, Chief Election Commissioner Election Commission of India and Chairperson, AAEA presided over the EB Meeting and the GA. Chairpersons, members & senior representatives from twenty EMBs of the AAEA participated in the deliberations of the EB and the GA. The Executive Board meets annually to discuss important issues and reports to the General Assembly of the Association, which meets every two years.

Association’s vision is to promote and institutionalize open and transparent elections, independent and impartial election authorities, professionalization of Asian election authorities, citizen participation in the electoral and civic process, information sharing, and the development of resources for election-related information and research. Mr. Umesh Sinha, Deputy Election Commissioner and Executive Secretary, AAEA presented the Secretariat Report and Financial Report for 2015-16 before the Executive Board as well as the General Assembly.

It was decided to amend the AAEA Charter to increase the number of members of the Executive Board from five to seven, including the Chair and the Vice-Chair, in order to have a better and geographically balanced representation of the twenty member EMBs of the AAEA. The Executive Board also approved the proposal of the Association of the World Election Bodies (A-WEB) that the AAEA become an Associate Member of the A-WEB. A-WEB (www.aweb.org ) is considered the largest organisation in the field of electoral management. It has 106 members organisations and is a partner with various organisations including United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), and International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) etc. By becoming an Associate Member of A–WEB, AAEA would gain access to a global platform for mutual communication and sharing of expertise and best practices, thus nurturing and fortifying electoral integrity in respective countries.

Philippines was elected as Chair of the AAEA with a new Executive Board, comprising Russia as Vice-Chair and India (as Past Chair), Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Taiwan as Executive Board members for 2017-19. After the General Assembly, presentations on ‘Gender Mainstreaming and Social Inclusion in Elections’ were given by EMBs from India, Philippines, Nepal, Taiwan, Cambodia, Maldives, Mongolia, Russia and Sri Lanka with the purpose of sharing the experience among member EMBs.

AAEA Executive Board (March 2017 - March 2019)
Chair – Philippines
Vice Chair – Russia
Exec. Members: India (Past Chair)
Indonesia
Kazakhstan
Pakistan
Taiwan
List of 20 member EMBs with sub-Regional Representation
South Asia
• India
• Nepal
• Maldives
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• Sri Lanka
• Afghanistan
• Pakistan
Central Asia
• Kazakhstan
• Mongolia
• Kyrgyz Republic
• Russia
• Tajikistan
• Uzbekistan
South East Asia / Asia-Pacific
• Korea
• Philippines
• Taiwan, R.O.C
• Indonesia
• Cambodia
• Papua New Guinea