EVMs

The nation is being treated to the sight of the government holding demonstration after demonstration in the hope of electronic voting machines (EVMs) being adopted for the next the general elections, but the an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is far from convinced. After the latest demo, conducted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the ECP has ordered the setting up of its own technical evaluation committee. It might be remembered that this process was carried out in India under the guidance and control of its election commission, with the government not playing the lead role. The PTI’s lead role has made opposition parties suspicious about this very enthusiasm, thus making the very purpose of the whole exercise fall down. Official claims about the unhackability of the system are incredible, and the fact that the machines have their software built in rather than fed in, means nothing. The loser of an election, instead of being silenced, would merely have another excuse for losing, thus making the whole exercise futile.

Another issue which has not been examined is that of cost. One 2018 estimate was Rs 80 billion; a more recent estimate was Rs 25 billion. The ECP would look to the government to provide the necessary funding. Where the government expects to produce these kinds of funds is not known. With the IFIs breathing down its neck to raise revenues so as to service the debt it is incurring, there does not seem to be that sort of money available.

This is one issue on which the government will have to obtain not just opposition consent, but ownership as well. If the result is that election losses are to be dismissed as because of rigging, or PMs are to have their mandate expected to be rejected as being the result of selection, then there is no point in carrying out such an elaborate exercise, unless there is someone out there who expects to make a killing on the supply of EVMs.