As many as 24 head, representatives of Elections Commissions from 8 countries of the Middle East and Africa witnessed Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.
The delegates included Chief Election Commissioners/ Commissioners from South Sudan, Jordan, Gambia and Guinea Bissau and senior representatives from Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria and Senegal, the EC said today.
While the four South Sudan Commissioners witnessed polling in Madhya Pradesh, the delegations from other nations saw the elections in Delhi - visited two model polling stations and also tried their hand at mock polls through the newly-introduced VVPAT machines. The delegations from Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon also witnessed elections in Rajasthan in addition to Delhi.
Before leaving for the respective states, they were given detailed briefings by senior officials of the Election of India on ECI's profile and election machinery, its international cooperation agenda including south-south cooperation and main features of poll preparedness in each state.
The visits were sponsored and facilitated by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). ECI and UNDP have an MoU, and an annual work plan, an important feature of which is to jointly promote exchange of visits and sharing of experiences and skills in the field of Electoral Management with developing countries under ECI's South-South Cooperation.
The visitors were impressed with the use of technology in these elections, particularly the use of Electronic Voting Machine and the use (on pilot basis) of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), which they were able to see and try for themselves.
Many delegates expressed interest in transfer of EVM technology to their countries and also sought ECI's assistance in capacity building of their officials, particularly through the training facilities at India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM), which has already conducted over 13 international training programmes and workshops since its inception in June 2011.
In his address to the delegates today, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath expressed EC's readiness to share the Commission's expertise and experience with more countries, under UNDP aegis for the 2014 General Elections.
He suggested holding of an international workshop for senior election officials to share experiences and discuss improvements in election management strategies.
