With an immensely informative session which revolved around the theme of 'Electoral Literacy in Formal Education: voter education in curricula and extra curricula' the session 1 of the international conference paved the way for reflections and exchange of ideas. The session comprised of 8 comprehensive presentations from Election Management Bodies of Canada, Georgia, Sri Lanka, Australia, USA and India.

The speakers talked at length about the current voter education scenarios in their countries, coupled with the challenges they face and how they have come up with pioneering initiatives in order to combat those challenges. The session commenced with Canada experience and how they have made efforts to fight the declining youth voter turnout rate. The audience was enlightened about the multifaceted approach that Canada uses to impart education among its students and youth. After this the audience learned about the unique pyramid form of education used by Georgia. Sri Lanka which is among the youngest Election Commissions in the world, talked about the voter engagement at school levels by the way of youth parliaments and various voting programs.

Australia talked about its “Get Voting Program” which is an online platform which enables students to get literature on voter education and conduct school elections. USA shared about how it gives the grants to its various schools and colleges to engage its young students to help them become responsible voters. The audience witnessed the diverse initiatives taken by India at all levels, in order to ensure that “No Voter is Left Behind”.

The session was further enriched by the interactive session with the audience which threw up some interesting observations and comments.