Pursuant to official invitation received from International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES) to the U.S. Election Programme (USEP), the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Chairperson, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi is currently in the U.S for the programme, monitoring the 58^th quadrennial U.S. presidential election.

A statement issued by Olusola Babalola, Senior Programme Officer, TMG, said “The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has supported citizens’ rights to participate in free and fair elections around the globe. Since 1992, IFES has hosted a flagship event, the U.S. Election Programme (USEP), which brings together election officials, parliamentarians and diplomats from around the world to observe and learn about the U.S. electoral system as well as discuss elections and voting from comparative international perspectives.

The 2016 U.S. Election Programme, which this year will be immediately followed by the Seventh Global Elections Organization (GEO-7) Conference. The combined opened Sunday, November 6, through Thursday, November 10, 2016.

The event will also host a breakfast briefing on Election Day featuring a prominent Republican and Democrat and offer an opportunity for exclusive tour of polling units throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

While in United State, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi will also attend the GEO-7 Conference. The conference will foster technical discussions of interest to election administrators and focus on the use of data and technology to improve transparency and accountability. The GEO partners include the Association of European Election Officials, IFES, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, Mexico’s National Electoral Institute, the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division and the United Nations Development Programme.

She will also attend a reception honouring election practitioners with the 2016 Joe C. Baxter Award. The evening is expected to end with an election watch party with live televised coverage of election results.

TMG commends the IFES, government and people of United State for this laudable opportunity and wishes United State a successful presidential election.

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