Crucial meetings today on use of electronic voting machines
Poll panel had raised objection on use of machines citing lack of security
In the backdrop of serious allegations levelled by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ministers against the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Pakistan, two important meetings are scheduled today.
Immediately after President Arif Alvi’s address to Parliament on the eve of the new parliamentary year today, members from the treasury benches are expected to give a go-ahead to the electoral reforms bill that will sanction among other things, use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in next general elections of 2023.
Another crucial meeting will be chaired by the CEC at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the commission will weigh various options under the law and constitution of the country to respond to the Minister for Railways, Azam Swati who in a recent meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee had alleged the ECP was a tool in the hands of the opposition parties and the CEC had received bribes from them. “We should set such institutions on fire,” Azam Swati had said in that meeting.
Two members of the ECP present in that meeting had walked out in protest over the remarks.
Others join Swati
After Swati’s outburst, PM’s Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also joined him and criticised the ECP for “feeling threatened by use of technology.”
What infuriated the minister and his colleagues was a list
of 37 objections raised by the ECP on the use of EVMs citing serious issues of transparency, security, procurement, training and capacity of the Election Commission in using them.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has pointed out that Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy and Finland had already abandoned the use of EVM due to lack of security.
ECP seeks more time
The ECP in its response to the government’s proposal to use EVMs made it clear that the use of electronic voting machines was not possible on short notice as general elections were only one-and-a-half months away and EVMs could not prevent misuse of state authority, election fraud, electronic ballot stuffing, vote buying, the law and order situation, dishonest polling staff, widespread political and electoral violence and abuse of state resources. The ECP also pointed out that Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy and Finland had already abandoned the use of EVM due to lack of security.