NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs on Tuesday said the credibility and robustness of India’s election machinery are “well-established facts globally”, after US President Donald Trump praised the country’s electoral system while pushing for stricter voting rules in the United States.MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked about Trump’s remarks during a media briefing. He said, “I have no specific comments to make on these remarks. I can say, however, that the credibility and robustness of India’s election machinery are well-established facts globally.”Trump had invoked India’s electoral system while renewing his call for US Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which seeks stricter voter identification and citizenship requirements for US federal elections.In a post on Truth Social, Trump referred to a conversation involving Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and questioned how elections could be conducted in the US without mandatory photo identification.“Earlier this month, India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, asked our Administration, How can you have Elections in the US without a valid Photo ID?” Trump said.He also cited the scale of India’s elections and its voter identification system.“India’s last Election had 646,000,000 Voters! Less than 1 per cent voted by mail, and every single Voter had to have a VALID Photo Identity Document.”Trump then urged lawmakers to pass the proposed legislation, saying, “We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now!”
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The SAVE America Act seeks to require documentary proof of US citizenship to register for federal elections and valid identification when voting. It also proposes tighter restrictions on mail-in voting and requires states to remove non-citizens from federal voter rolls.The White House has used India and Brazil as examples while arguing for stronger voter-identification safeguards in the US. It has said India and Brazil link voter identification to biometric databases, while the US largely relies on self-attestation of citizenship.
