India helping other nations in conducting polls: US official

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Apr 30 (PTI) Lauding Election Commission of
India, a top US official has highlighted that India is now
using its expertise and excellence to help conduct polls in
other parts of the globe.
"With India we have sought to highlight its excellence in
administering elections," Maria Otero, Under Secretary for
Democracy and Global Affairs, said in a speech.
India, she said, mobilises thousands of civil servants to
help administer its domestic elections for over 730 million
voters.
"The Indians are now sharing their expertise with other
nations like Nigeria, where the electorate just went to the
polls in a historic Presidential election that saw significant
improvements over 2007 elections despite incidents of
violence," Otero said.
"India also just sent experts to Egypt, whom we hope will
have its first successful free election soon," she said,
adding that South Africa has a similarly impressive history of
breaking the yoke of apartheid and establishing a strong
democracy in Africa.
Early this year, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
in a telephonic conversation with External Affairs Minister,
sought India's expertise in conducting free and fair elections
in Egypt.
India has sent quite a number of electronic voting
machines to Egypt.