Joseph Stalin had said that the decision of an election is not made by the voters but by those who count the votes. Since Stalin was the guardian of the Russian communist system where elections were not held, his statement was considered a satire on democracy in his day, but at one point people were forced to think that Stalin was right.
If you look at Pakistan’s electoral system, especially the recent by-elections, Stalin’s point seems to be correct. In NA-75, where 20 polling officers mysteriously went missing, including ballot boxes, the whole system looks like a mess. What is the solution? The answer is very straightforward and simple. In this advanced age of technology, the solution is very simple. You may have noticed that scams and widespread corruption in land records have been eliminated because wherever land records have been computerized in Punjab, no Patwari or Tehsildar can afford to own the property of a widow or illiterate woman. Get your name fraudulently. This leaves the question of who is responsible for this deed. History cannot be denied. Whenever it comes to computerization of land records, the name of Shahbaz Sharif will come up.
Taunsa is considered to be the most backward tehsils of Pakistan and this is probably one of the reasons why Usman Buzdar was made the Chief Minister. If you go to a small mobile shop there and want to buy a SIM, the shopkeeper in this 8×8 feet shop also has a NADRA biometric machine that will check your thumb, and if it matches the NADRA record then your SIM will be issued. The shopkeeper who is verifying may be a matric failure. This is the perfection of technology.
Despite the fact that technology has become so common in our society, our government is still holding elections in a centuries-old ballot box manner, while e-voting has started in our neighboring country India since 1998. Many Indian states have adopted a series of electronic voting methods, especially in sensitive constituencies. It is not possible to cast a fake vote in this process. Even if the polling station is taken over, it is not possible to misuse the machines. This is a foolproof system. Ballot boxes are rigged by putting extra paper, but the system of this machine is that you cannot cast more than 5 votes in one minute and before casting each vote, it is necessary that the polling officer press the button which allows a single vote to be cast later. A vote cannot be cast until the polling officer presses the Next button. Electronic voting machines, or EVMs, are currently in use in many countries of the world including the USA, the UK, India, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, EU, Finland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Thailand, and many more other countries.
To date, no political party has tried to talk about e-voting. Until that happens, polling stations will continue to be occupied. Servants will continue to die, and polling officers will continue to be abducted. Not taking advantage of today’s modern technology for better governance is an argument of incompetence and incompetence. If this is not done, then in the future, the decision for e-voting may have to be taken by the Supreme Court so that the pressure of election-related cases on the judiciary can be reduced. In the world we live in, we must look around to adapt to modern requirements.
The question is why e-voting has not been adopted in Pakistan till date. The obvious reason for this is the malice of the rulers. If e-voting is adopted in Pakistan, you will no longer need to form a caretaker government. In any case, caretaker governments are not formed other than Pakistan and Bangladesh. For this you must amend the Constitution. When the present government had difficulty in getting votes in the Senate, they went to the Supreme Court for a show of hands for an end to the secret ballot in the Senate elections, but to date no one has said that e-voting should be introduced here as well. E-voting will save billions of rupees in election expenses, will eliminate the possibility of vote theft, will restore the confidence of the common man in democracy and will increase voter turnout.
Candidates will work in the constituency and try to get votes. Merit and transparency will be promoted and the concept of rule of law will be strengthened. The role of the Election Commission of India is more important than that of politicians in launching e-voting in India. We have zero tradition of taking initiative in bureaucracy. Only our seats are saved in big posts here, so we are 25 years behind India in terms of e-voting.
To date, no political party has tried to talk about e-voting. Until that happens, polling stations will continue to be occupied. Servants will continue to die, and polling officers will continue to be abducted. Not taking advantage of today’s modern technology for better governance is an argument of incompetence and incompetence. If this is not done, then in the future, the decision for e-voting may have to be taken by the Supreme Court so that the pressure of election-related cases on the judiciary can be reduced. In the world we live in, we must look around to adapt to modern requirements.
