ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government is committed to introducing electronic voting to ensure transparent elections, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said, as experts and insiders warn of the huge costs of the transition, as well as technical and trust issues in a country where election results are often disputed.
The idea of introducing electronic voting machines (EVMs), which directly record votes and are believed to prevent irregularities, caught the spotlight after a government candidate lost a key senate seat to a joint opposition candidate last month, resulting in accusations of vote rigging and horse trading.
A subsequent election for the post of senate chairman also caused controversy after eight ballot papers had to be destroyed by the presiding officer for breaking rules.
“In light of past experience, the introduction of electronic voting machines to make the electoral process as transparent, safe and impartial as possible is in the interest of the country’s democracy,” Khan said while being shown EVMs developed by COMSATS University Islamabad and the National Institute of Electronics on Wednesday.
“The country’s democratic and electoral process can no longer tolerate a system that is questioned and the public’s confidence is shaken,” he added.
Farrukh Habib, an MP from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, called the introduction of EVMs a “very important development” for electoral reforms in Pakistan, while Raoof Hasan, the PM’s special aide on information, said the machines would ensure a “revolutionary” shift in a political landscape where election outcomes were often contested.
“EVMs could make elections more credible and difficult to question the results,” Hasan told Arab News, saying all parties would be asked for input before the system was introduced and the transition would be overseen by the election commission.
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials said that legislation needed to be enacted for the transition to take place and that they were less optimistic about the switch based on failed pilot projects in the past.
One ECP pilot project covered 35 polling stations in Peshawar in 2017.
“In that mock exercise, we have faced a lot of technical problems and also people have shown distrust on voting machines’ accuracy,” a senior ECP official told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.
Former ECP secretary Kanwar Dilshad said it was unlikely EMVs could be introduced by the next general election due to financial, logistical and technical constraints.
“At least 1 trillion rupees ($6.5 billion) is required to replace manual voting with digital voting procedures: Electronic voting machines, biometric verification machines or Internet voting for overseas Pakistanis in general elections,” Dilshad told Arab News, saying 60 billion rupees would be required for the procurement of 350,000 EVMs alone.
“This is a futile exercise. The Election Commission of Pakistan pilot projects regarding EVMs have failed in the past,” he said.
Trust deficit is another problem, opposition politicians say.
“No political party is ready to trust technology after the RTS (results transmission system) issue in 2018,” Pakistan People’s Party Sen. Taj Haider said, referring to a controversy in the general election over the collapse of the RTS system during the counting process, leading to claims of rigging.
“E-voting can only proceed if elections are conducted without establishment interference under an honest and independent ECP,” Haider said.
Raja Zafar ul Haq, a senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader, said that EVMs would undermine Pakistan’s electoral process if introduced without a consensus.
“It will also increase fear of manipulation and further damage the credibility of elections,” he said.
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