Over 65 representatives from 20 Election Management Bodies of world witness LS polls

ByMr. Sachida Nand Jha

May 12, 2019

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Heads and Representatives of 20 Election Management Bodies (EMBs) from across the World, namely Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Fiji, Georgia, Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Romania, Russia, Srilanka, Suriname, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe and International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) have arrived in New Delhi to witness the ongoing General Elections to 17^th Lok Sabha. More than 65 such delegates have been invited by Election Commission of India to join the Election Visitors Programme.

Addressing the participants, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora lauded the foresight and vision of forefathers of Indian Constitution in establishing the Election Commission of India a day before the promulgation of the Republic. Qoting from Article 324 of the Constitution of India, Arora reiterated that Election Commission of India is firmly committed to ensure free, fair and robust elections in the country. He added that Election Commission of India had never been deterred by the sceptics and critics and as always, is committed to function as per the principles and ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Citing vignettes from recent phases of election coverage, Arora said further efforts would be made to make the election process more robust, ethical, inclusive, accessible and participative. The CEC announced that Committees will be set up to study best practices from the States, document issues and challenges faced to further improve procedural measures to strengthen learnings from these Elections and identify critical gaps, if any. Arora also highlighted the recent IT initiatives taken particularly the effectiveness of c-Vigil Application of the ECI which has truly empowered the citizens report instances of violations of MCC and play critical role in the entire electoral process.

Election Commissioner (EC) Ashok Lavasa recalled that India has come a long way from 1950 when the world was skeptical of decolonized India being able to handle democracy. “Its a tribute to forefathers of Indian Constitution that Universal Right to Vote was granted from day one,” he pointed out.

EC Sushil Chandra, in his address to the participants of the Election Visitors’ Programme, highlighted the comprehensive preparations set in place by ECI for the conduct of elections to the 17th Lok Sabha across 543 Parliamentary Constituencies of the country along with General Elections to the State Legislatures of Andhra Pradesh, Arunanchal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim, in a free, fair and peaceful manner.

“Abuse of money power in Elections is widely recognized as the greatest challenge faced both by the established and emerging democracies across the world,” he pointed out. The ECI, accordingly, has made elaborate arrangements for effective implementation of Election Expenditure Monitoring mechanism, he said.

Second issue of ECI’s quarterly magazine “My Vote Matters” was also released on this occasion by the Commission. The magazine presents a comprehensive glimpse of preparatory initiatives in different States for the ongoing elections, according to a PIB release.

The delegates visited various polling stations in North West Delhi, East Delhi, Chandni Chowk. South Delhi and Gurgaon through the day to see the polling-in –action and the festive air that surrounds polling on May 12, 2019. They visited some polling stations managed entirely by women polling staff as also some model polling stations with the best of facilities for the voters. The delegates also interacted with the Chief electoral officer of Delhi to get the perspective on elections from the state level.