Election Commission, EVM and Online Voting: Will the next elections in Pakistan be held under new rules?
When asked by the Election Commission of Pakistan whether the forthcoming elections would be conducted through internet and electronic voting machines in the light of the new rules passed by the Parliament or in the old fashioned way, they replied:
The ECP says it is not against the use of electronic voting machines, but has not yet made a final decision on whether they can be used for voting in the next general election.
Legislation in Pakistan's parliament is in place, but the Election Commission, with the help of its three committees, will now determine whether the law is workable or not. If it is feasible then what kind of steps will need to be taken to implement it.
According to officials, the committee's responsibilities include comparing existing laws with the old ones and making recommendations for amendments.
According to officials, nowhere in the world have elections been conducted through internet and electronic voting machines without full experience, nor can the entire election process be completed in one day.
It may be recalled that a joint sitting of the Parliament of Pakistan last month passed an amendment bill to use EVM for voting in elections despite opposition objections and walkouts, proposing two amendments to the 2017 Election Act. Have gone
The first is that electronic voting machines will be used for voting. The second is that Pakistanis living abroad will have the right to vote through the Internet.
After the meeting, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry announced that the next general elections in Pakistan would be held through electronic voting machines, while 9 million Pakistanis living abroad would have the right to vote via the Internet, while opposition leaders challenged the law in court.
The Information Minister has also made it clear that if the next elections are not held under the new rules, then the funding of the Election Commission may be stopped.
Will EVMs be used in the next elections?
According to Zafar Iqbal,Special Secretary to the Election Commission, the Election Commission is not against the use of EVMs and after the legislation was passed by the Parliament, the Commission has formed three technical committees to look into the possibility of using these machines in the next elections.
According to him, the planning committee has been formed under the chairmanship of the Secretary Election Commission, whose job is to review all the technologies used in elections, 'international standards' and 'best practices'.
According to him, the function of this committee is to determine the procedure of electronic voting machine and overseas voting, formulate policy, machine making strategy, review it technically and functionally and identify future needs.
The committee will also identify the process required for Pakistanis abroad to vote and make recommendations on how to implement it.
The second committee of the Election Commission will review the expenditure incurred on these machines. The committee will make recommendations regarding pilot testing of these machines, mechanisms and their storage.
The third committee will review the previous laws in the light of existing laws and make suggestions and recommendations for amendments to existing laws and regulations to address issues such as legal matters.
''Countries from which EVMs are to be purchased do not use them themselves''.
Muhammad Khidr Aziz, director general of information technology at the Election Commission, told the BBC that the kind of electronic voting machines that Pakistan would need would have to be bought from developed countries that do not use them themselves. According to him, Germany, France and South Korea are currently producing such excellent machines.
He said that these machines would be designed from a security point of view so that they would be disconnected from the internet so that no one could alter the results.
According to Khidr Aziz, such a system will be installed in them that even if someone takes these machines, then they can be traced. According to him, "additional batteries will be required with these machines so that their work will not be affected."
When asked if elections are held in different phases in the countries where these machines are being used, will it be possible to get results in one day from these machines in Pakistan, officials said. The committees constituted by the Election Commission will also look into the matter.
According to officials, the old method of preparing Form 45 will still be followed in preparing the results.
What are the challenges in using EVM?
According to Election Commission officials, RTS was the name of a setup under which the presiding officer had to send a photograph to the RO immediately.
According to him, RTS was the name of a software about which we had sought help from Nadar. The RTS also had a backup system and the original system was with the Election Commission.
According to DGIT, the biggest challenge is time. It remains to be seen which machine will be most useful, especially which one will meet the needs of our country.
Training and awareness are the two major challenges to make elections possible through these machines.
According to him, it remains to be seen how Pakistanis living abroad will exercise their voting right. Will they come to the embassy or will they be able to do all this through postal ballot?''Each method has its advantages and disadvantages''.
According to him, it remains to be seen in which way the risk is reduced.
According to him, further testing is necessary to make it possible to hold elections at international standards. According to him, it is yet to be decided what technology will be used in these machines, what will be the features in these machines.
''Machines will be manufactured according to the situation and geography of the country''.
Asked whether these machines would be installed at every polling booth, Election Commission officials said that machines would be required at all the polling booths and polling stations, but their cost was yet to be estimated.
What caused the objections of the Election Commission to these machines in the past?
Regarding the ECP's objections to the e-Wam machines, Khizr Aziz said that these objections were not yet related to legislation but it was the ECP's report which showed the results after the experiments of one and a half hundred machines in various elections after 2017. Came to the fore.
One and a half hundred EVM machines, one hundred biometric machines were taken for the pilot project on which the pilot test was done and the report was submitted to the Parliament for discussion, discussion on their features and then legislation in its light. Go "These missions have to be tested over and over again to give the best results and the election process can be completed in a transparent manner."
According to him, EVM is not something to go and buy from the market, it requires the introduction of necessary changes.
According to him, the technology needs to be tested over and over again and testing of EVMs will also be necessary for the next elections.