Poll Body Chief Visits Uzbekistan As International Observer For Presidential Polls

Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra visited Uzbekistan as an international observer for the October 24 presidential election there.

The CEC led a three-member delegation, according to an Election Commission statement on Thursday.

Mr Chandra held a meeting with Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan Zainiddin M Nizamkhodjaev on electoral cooperation on October 21.

Mr Nizamkhodjaev briefed Mr Chandra about various measures taken for the conduct of the presidential election, including single electronic voters' list, arrangements for in-person voting on poll day and early voting as well as COVID-19 safety protocols.

Mr Chandra spoke about the recent conduct of elections in India and various avenues for further strengthening electoral ties between the two countries through signing of MoU on electoral cooperation and training and capacity building programmes which the Election Commission would be happy to organise for Uzbekistan election officials.

Delegates from Uzbekistan have been participating in the EC's International Election Visitors Programmes (IEVP) organised during elections. Officials from Uzbekistan have also been attending training programmes organised by the EC.

The presidential election in Uzbekistan was held under the country's new election code.

Under the Uzbekistan election law, the president is elected for a five-year term from a single nationwide constituency.

The election administration follows a three-tier structure comprising of the Central Election Commission, 14 District Election Commissions and 10,760 Precinct Election Commissions, the EC statement said.

Uzbekistan has an electorate of about 20 million. Each polling station caters to a maximum of 3,000 voters. Early voting system was in place from October 14-20 and 4,21,618 people used the early voting facility, including 1,20,524 from abroad.

Only registered political parties can nominate candidates to run in the election. Five candidates -- four men and one woman -- contested in the presidential election. The campaign is funded by the State.

The Indian delegation visited the 7th and 14th District Election Commissions to obtain an overview of the electoral administration, procedures and initiatives of the Central Election Commission of Uzbekistan. Thereafter, they visited polling stations in Uzbekistan to observe the election process in detail, according to the statement.