EC to assist other countries to conduct elections

The Election Commission of India (EC) would assist in conducting elections in countries such as Palestine, Cameroon, Afghanisthan, Sweden, UK, Bangladesh, Philippines and Russia among others.

The commission has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations (UN) to assist these countries in conducting elections.

"With the increasing demand from African and European countries to provide assistance in conducting assistance, we have signed a memorandum with the UN to assist these countries in conducting elections by sending observers," said T S Krishnamurthy, chief election commissioner, on Tuesday.

He was in Ahmedabad to address the 37th annual convocation of the Occupational Research Society of India.

India is a founding member of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Stockholm, Sweden.

In the recent past, the commission has expanded international contacts by way of sharing of experience and expertise in the areas of electoral management and administration, electoral laws and reforms.

Delegates of the commission have visited Sweden, UK, Russia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines in recent years.

Recently, the commission had send election observers to Palestine to provide assistance in conducting elections.

Election officials from the national electoral bodies and other delegates from the several countries such as Russia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nigeria, Australia, the US and Afghanistan have visited the commission for a better understanding of the Indian electoral process.

The commission has also provided experts and observers for elections to other countries in co-operation with the UN and the commonwealth secretariat.

"The process of conducting election has changed in the last 50 years. Conducting election in India has become far more difficult since the first general election in 1952. At present, we have to conduct election in four phases as compared to the one-day election in 1952. Conducting election in India is a unique experience considering the size, population and geographical condition of the country. It is a difficult task to manage a country with 670 million voters, comprising 62 per cent voting population. If we can manage this, we can help in conducting election in any part of the world," said Krishnamurthy.

The commission has taken several initiatives recently, which include a scheme for use of state owned electronic media for broadcast by political parties, checking criminalisation of politics and computerisation of electoral rolls.