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New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday flagged off 14 participants of the International Election Visitors Program 2025 to witness the voting in the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections on November 6. An officer gave this information.
The inaugural session of the event organized by the Election Commission of India at the India International Institute for Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM) here was attended by participants from 7 countries, France, South Africa, Belgium, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Colombia.
The participants were provided a demonstration of EVMs, following which a presentation was given by senior ECI officials on various aspects of elections, including preparation of voter lists and conduct of elections in India, the official said in a statement.
The IEVP includes a two-day visit to Bihar from November 5-6, where participants will visit EVM dispatch centers and witness actual voting on November 6.
IEVP is a flagship program of ECI for international cooperation and engagement with Election Management Bodies (EMBs) of other countries and international organisations.
The official statement said that since 2014, IEVP has been showcasing the strength of India’s electoral system to the international community and sharing best practices adopted in the world’s largest democracy for the conduct of elections.
Campaigning for the first phase of Bihar assembly elections ended on Tuesday evening. In the first phase, voting will be held in 121 assembly constituencies of 18 districts on November 6.
During the first phase, more than 3 crore 75 lakh voters will decide the political fate of a total of 1,314 candidates.
In this phase, voters will exercise their franchise in Patna, Darbhanga, Madhepura, Saharsa, Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Vaishali, Samastipur, Begusarai, Lakhisarai, Munger, Sheikhpura, Nalanda, Buxar and Bhojpur districts of the state.
On the last day of campaigning, star campaigners and senior leaders of both the NDA and the Grand Alliance made a last ditch effort to woo voters in support of their party candidates.
In the second phase, 122 assembly constituencies in 20 districts will go to polls on November 11 and counting of votes will take place on November 14. A total of 90,712 polling stations will be set up across the state for more than 7.43 crore voters.
–IANS
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