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Representatives of several countries in India to witness Lok Sabha polls 

WION
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaWritten By: Sidhant SibalUpdated: May 12, 2019, 10:37 PM IST
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File photo. Photograph:(Reuters)

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The delegates visited various polling stations in North West Delhi, East Delhi, Chandni Chowk, South Delhi and Gurgaon on Sunday, during the 6th phase of polls to see the polling and on-ground action.

Even as the two-month long election is underway, there is a considerable global interest with envoys of South Korea, Indonesia requesting a visit to polling booths while heads and representatives of 20 Election Management Bodies (EMBs) from across the World are in New Delhi to witness the polling.

The 20 representatives include 65 delegates, who have been invited by Election Commission of India (ECI) to join the Election Visitors Programme.

The countries include 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).

The delegates visited various polling stations in North West Delhi, East Delhi, Chandni Chowk, South Delhi and Gurgaon on Sunday, during the 6th phase of polls to see the polling and on-ground action.

''We visited polling stations and saw the process of the polls. We also visited polling stations in Gurgaon and Delhi, and were quite happy to see the participation of the voters and the festivity which was there," said Umesh Sinha, Sr. Deputy Election Commissioner. 

They also visited polling stations which are managed entirely by women polling staff and some model polling stations other than interacting with the chief electoral officer of Delhi to get the perspective on elections. 

Australia's envoy to India Harinder Sindhu after one such visit, speaking to news agency ANI said, "It's been a really inspiring experience. How can you get so many people to voting? The answer is well-organised EC and its officials. It's a good system and organised."

Delegates included a team of six members and nine Sr. Election officers from Election Commission of Myanmar visiting India as part of training programme being conducted by Election commissions' India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) under Ministry of External Affairs' sponsorship.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora briefed various delegates during which he said, "The objective and intention of the Commission is to always keep learning from the experiences of the past for necessary course corrections for the future". 

The election commission of India has organized more than 10 lakh polling stations for 910 million voters in India's ongoing General Elections to 17th Lok Sabha.