EVMs and i-voting: ECP gives bodies another 10 days to submit ‘improved’ recommendations

ISLAMABAD: The three committees constituted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) last month on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and i-voting have presented their reports to the electoral body, while the commission has given them 10 more days to “improve their recommendations.”

“The commission expressed certain observations and also gave few directions in this regard. The committees requested to give some more time to finalise their reports. The request was granted by the commission by allowing 10 more days to further improve their recommendations,” the electoral body said on Thursday.

The ECP, on November 23rd, announced to have formed three committees led by its top officials over EVMs and i-voting.

According to the ECP, the Technical Committee comprises Secretary ECP Omar Hamid Khan dealing with the scope of the EVMs and i-voting.

The Financial Committee is led by Additional Secretary (Admin) Manzoor Akhtar Malik that deals with finances regarding the EVMs and i-voting.

The Legal Committee is led by ECP Director General (Law) Muhammad Arshad regarding implementation of laws on the EVMs and i-voting, and problems being faced in this regard.

Also on November 23, scores of overseas Pakistanis, accompanied by close aides of Prime Minister Imran Khan, assembled at the ECP, submitted a memorandum with the electoral body demanding the provision of i-voting facility to overseas Pakistanis - and extended their gratitude to the PM and his government for recent parliamentary legislation that grants voting right to millions of overseas Pakistanis.

On November 17, in a landmark move, the federal government got the Elections Second (Amendment) Bill, 2021 passed by the joint session of the parliament. This legislation grants voting right to overseas Pakistanis besides providing for the introduction of the EVMs in the general elections.

The move has been widely lauded by overseas Pakistanis and public circles in Pakistan.

However, just a day after the passage of Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021 by the parliament, the secretary ECP, on November 18, said that the electoral body was “unsure” whether or not the 2023 general elections would be held on the EVMs.

He disclosed this in the meeting of National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice chaired by Riaz Fatyana from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The secretary faced a number of tough questions regarding the efficiency of the EVMs, lack of preparation by the ECP to ensure timely launch of the EVMs, issues related to transparency and related queries. “There are challenges regarding EVMs. Whether these machines would be used in the general polls—nothing can be said at this point,” the secretary said, adding that three to four more pilot projects related to the EVMs were required to be launched to test the efficiency of these machines.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021