New Delhi: The Election Commission of India has given a detailed briefing about the extensive use of technology in the conduct of elections broadly under three verticals of voters’ participation, political parties/candidates and election machinery logistics, to a visiting delegation from Germany. The German delegation visited Nirvachan Sadan – the ECI office – under the leadership of the country’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, on Tuesday.
During their interaction, the visiting German minister personally cast a vote through EVM during a demonstration of EVM-VVPAT functioning organized for them.
She, along with the delegation of German lawmakers, keenly observed the strong security features of standalone EVMs along with rigorous administrative protocols on handling, movement, storage, operations and the process for participation of political parties at every stage of electoral processes involving EVMs.
Speaking on the occasion, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that the idea of democracy is deeply rooted in India’s historical context and traditions.
Giving an overview of the magnitude of Indian elections, he informed the German delegation of the detailed exercise that ECI conducts for over 950 million voters across 1.1 million polling stations, co-opting 11 million polling personnel ensuring robust electoral processes for conducting free, fair, inclusive, accessible and participative elections.
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He emphasized that ECI ensures disclosures and participation of political parties at every stage.
The German minister appreciated the vast exercise of electoral management by ECI in the largest democracy in the world given the challenges of diverse geography, culture & electorate in India.
She was accompanied by four members of her country’s parliament, Bundestag. They were Agnieszka Brugger, Thomas Erndl, Ulrich Lechte, Andreas Larem. The German ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann, and other officers from her foreign office were also present.
From the Election Commission of India, Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel were also present.
Both India and Germany are members of the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), Stockholm and the Community of Democracies, Warsaw.
