Overseas voter registration extended
Doubts over success of electronic voting software
Despite the announcement by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that it had developed an online platform for overseas Pakistanis to participate in the by-elections, taking place next month on October 14, chances of such a system working appear bleak.
The software was intended to offer Pakistanis living and working abroad a long-awaited facility to cast their votes.
However, according to ECP sources, the platform is still a long way from taking practical shape.
If used in a hasty manner, the software — developed jointly by National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and ECP — would fail, as in the case of the Result Transmission System (RTS) which failed during the July general elections, and give a bad name to the commission and the authorities concerned, the sources said.
Window for using system
Meanwhile, seeing subdued interest among overseas Pakistanis in registering with the ivoting portal, the ECP extended, to tomorrow, the deadline to register and be able to vote in the by-elections.
According to an ECP official, only registered overseas voters would be able to use the i-voting system.
A letter had been written to the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to direct Pakistani missions abroad to educate overseas Pakistanis on the registration process.
The ECP will prescribe a specific time window for overseas citizens to use the i-voting system. All eligible voters will cast their votes between 8am and 6pm — Pakistan Standard Time (PST) — on polling day.
The official said overseas Pakistanis must have machinereadable passports, national identity cards and valid email IDs, to be able to register themselves as voters.