Former finance secretary Ashok Lavasa was also appointed as an election commissioner to fill up the vacancy that would have arisen in the three-member Election Commission after Joti's retirement.
Sunil Arora is the other commissioner in the poll body.
Rawat will take over as the CEC on January 23, a law ministry notification said.
His tenure will end in December this year and Arora, the senior most commissioner after the CEC, is expected to take over as the head of the poll panel as per convention.
Arora would retire in April, 2021, and would oversee the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as the CEC. Lavasa would demit office in October, 2022 and would be the CEC after Arora.
An EC or CEC has a tenure of six years. But if he turns 65 before that, he demits office.
Born on December 2, 1953, Rawat is a former Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer. His appointment will come into effect from the day he assumes office, a law ministry statement said.
Rawat also served as secretary, department of public enterprises in the ministry of heavy industries. Earlier in 1993, he served as a director in the defence ministry.
He also served as principal secretary to Babu Lal Gaur, the then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh between 2004 and 2006.
An awardee of state government's 'recognition of forest rights' in 2009, Rawat did M.Sc in social development planning in 1989 in the United Kingdom.
Lavasa, besides his stint in the finance ministry, was with the ministries of environment and forest, civil aviation, power, home, finance at the Centre and industries, tourism and public relations in Haryana, his cadre.
The man who will run the 2019 election
How Amit Shah plans to win 350+ seats in 2019
Election Commission bars BJP from using 'Pappu' in electronic ads
What is the Election Commission?
How to defeat Modi in elections