Representatives from 5 countries in India to watch Uttarakhand polls

Representatives from five countries have arrived in India to witness the assembly elections in Uttarakhand slated for Wednesday, the Election Commission said on Tuesday.

A group of 13 persons including heads and representatives of election management bodies (EMBs) from Russia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Namibia and Kyrgystan will watch the polling on Wednesday.

"The delegates have already been briefed by the EC on different facets of election management in India and main features of poll preparedness in the ongoing assembly elections," an official said.

"The international delegates were given demonstration of the use of technology in these elections, particularly the use of electronic voting machine (EVM) and the use of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), as well as extensive briefings by senior officials of the EC on the entire process of election management," he added.

The Election Visitors Programme (EVP) for the international delegates has been organised by the ECI in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India.

--IANS

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