President Alvi invites opposition for electric voting demonstration to assure that rigging is not possible

In a private news channel interview, President Alvi offered the opposition parties to develop a consensus over the introduction of Electronic voting machines (EVMs) after witnessing a demonstration. He said Wednesday clarifying the confusion around electronic voting machines (EVM) that the new technology’s implementation would not mean the phasing out of ballot papers, ARY News reported.

“I invite the opposition parties to Aiwan-e-Sadr or parliament, whatever best suits their convenience, to witness the demonstration,” the President said, adding that even in the neighbouring country India, the EVM has been in practice since 1985.

The parties could share any reservations they have after witnessing the exercise, and those can be addressed, he said.

President Alvi also invited the media to join them during the demonstration and report on the prototype.

“We want all political parties to be on the same page in introducing EVM in the election process.”

Earlier last week, Prime Minister Imran Khan stressed the need for EVM through a series of tweets saying that all parties are crying foul and claiming rigging in Thursday’s NA-249 by-election.

He mentioned the recent Daska by-election and the Senate elections in March and said that that same happened on all these occasions. In fact, apart from the 1970 election, in every election, rigging claims have raised doubts about election results’ credibility, he pointed out.

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