Government displays EVM prototype, seeks opposition’s cooperation

As the government displayed a working prototype of the type of electronic voting machines it wishes to use in the upcoming election, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry once again invited the opposition for a discussion on the matter.

Elections have a history of becoming controversial in Pakistan, with allegations of rigging being common after every election. While successive governments have been urged to undertake electoral reforms time and time again, nothing significant has been done.

The incumbent government has occasionally expressed its desire to bring electoral reforms, even inviting the opposition to sit with it for a dialogue on the way forward. However, last week, the Free and Fair Election Network cautioned the government against moving with haste in this matter and called for a public debate and political discourse on electoral reforms. It highlighted the country would need to address structural and systematic issues in order to strengthen democracy.

On Wednesday, FAFEN once again issued a statement, urging the government to review the first-past-the-post system and adopt a proportional representation system to improve public representation in legislatures. It added that since 2002, the proportion of unrepresentative votes in total polled votes has been on the rise, with an all-time high being recorded in the general election held in 2018.

Referring to frequent allegations of rigging, Fawad said that it was the habit of some political parties to level allegations following every election. He said that the greatest problem with traditional methods of voting was that it takes time to count votes before official results are announced. The minister also said that EVMs would help achieve transparency and efficiency as the results are announced soon after voting.

He said that while the initial demonstration was given to reporters at the Parliament House, other media and legal associations would also be given briefings on the matter.

Fawad said that the opposition would be informed about these as well and their feedback would be taken into consideration. For this purpose, he added, the government had played a prototype of the machine at the Parliament House.

Talking about the locally-developed prototype, the minister said that it fulfills the 36 conditions laid out by the Election Commission of Pakistan a few years ago. He added that the machine was as easy to use as a mobile phone.

While demonstrating the operations of the machine, Fawad was accompanied by Adviser to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan, Senator Faisal Javed and Nasir Malik, the representative of Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South.

Babar also spoke about the EVMs proposed to the Election Commission. He said that the government has imported three models while two were being manufactured in Pakistan. He, however, added that the ECP would make a final decision on which machine to use. It is worth noting that recently, the government empowered the Election Commission to introduce electronic voting in general elections.

The adviser said that the machines would identify voters through their identity cards, while their credentials would be verified with the National Database and Registration Authority.

He said that it was on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s instructions that the government was going for this approach. He also cited the allegations of rigging by opposition parties in the recent NA-249 by-election as an example of the “cancer” that has been plaguing Pakistan’s electoral system.

Electronic voting machines are not without controversy either. Due to the possibility of hacking, these machines are more susceptible to large-scale electoral fraud when compared to paper ballot.