ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Monday said electronic voting was the most effective tool to ensure transparency in the elections and if the opposition parties agreed, the government was ready to introduce the apparatus in the coming general elections.
In an interview, the minister said the work on the new method had been completed and if a consensus was reached between the government and the opposition parties on the proposal, the electronic voting regime could be trialled in the next elections scheduled to be held in 2023.
Electronic voting machines are used in some of the world’s biggest democracies to get around some of these hurdles. The machines come in all shapes and sizes, from small touchscreen devices to larger units with physical buttons and a printed ballot paper on the front.
But those nations that have widespread adoption of electronic voting are also developing nations with relatively short democratic histories and their own unique challenges, ranging from inaccessible rural populations to low levels of literacy.
Fawad said a mechanism will be devised for transparency in the elections, assuring the machines fulfil all the requirements of the Election Commission of Pakistan under the law regulating the entire process.
The minister said EVMs were ahead of the incumbent polling regime and would reduce the chances of fraud in the elections and results would be available immediately, including electronic and paper trails.
“Our emphasis on electronic voting machines is because they are not connected to the Internet”, the minister said.
Fawad said voting usually ends at 5:00 pm during the election and the people have to wait until the next morning to get the results, but the use of electronic voting machines would make election results available immediately.
Regarding the rigging charges in recent Kashmir elections, he said, the PML-N was in power and the prime minister also belonged to the party.
Moreover, a senior member of the Election Commission was also a close relative of the then prime minister of the region.
He said the appointment of the chief election commissioner was also done by the Muzaffarabad itself, the police and the administration were also under their control. But when the PML-N lost the election, the former premier claimed rigging.
If the opposition parties lose the election, they claim rigging and if they win, they say the elections were fair, the minister remarked.
He said the best way to get rid of these allegations was to develop a mechanism so that the transparency of the elections cannot be questioned.
Fawad said that for ensuring transparency in elections, the position of Prime Minister Imran Khan and PTI was to move towards technology as it would bring transparency in elections like the developed democracies.
The election commission set 36 conditions, he said, adding if an electronic machine meets those conditions, it can be used in the election process. He said that the new technology brought by the government met all the requirements of the ECP.
Regarding the concerns of the stakeholders, the minister said the stakeholders include the Election Commission and the opposition parties and these machines fulfil all the conditions of the commission as far as the opposition is concerned, they have not seen this technology as yet.
He said that the opposition should first have a look at these machines and then make its own decision.
Fawad said at present, there were three types of technologies being discussed in electoral reforms which include electronic voting machines, internet voting and biometrics, these three were not interlinked.
He said that at present, five companies were developing EVMs which meet the requirements of the ECP. He said that there was no problem with technology and the issue of their price may be discussed.
Responding to a question, he said that there were two parts of the legal provisions in this regard, one part was related to giving powers to the Election Commission. He said that the National Assembly has passed the bill in this regard which was now tabled in the Senate.
Two Senate committees were working on it, the Senate Political Committee comprising members of the opposition and the government in which the bill was being debated.
The bill was also being considered in the Senate Committee on Parliamentary Affairs. If further amendments were made to this bill in the Senate, it will come up again in the National Assembly and a fresh vote would be done in the National Assembly again.
He said that if there was a consensus between the government and the opposition, it would be implemented soon.
Asked about holding the next elections on EVMs, he said that there was no problem in holding the next elections on EVMs.
He said a consensus was built between the opposition and the government, the purchase of EVMs could be started the next day and the next elections can be held on EVMs.
