President determined to introduce I-voting & EVMs despite opposition's allegations of rigging

President Dr. Arif Alvi Monday once again stressed the need for expediting electoral reforms in line with the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s directives to enable overseas Pakistanis to cast their votes through internet voting, pushing aside the reservations of the various stakeholders including the opposition parties.

The president, chairing a meeting regarding the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), said the federal government wanted to facilitate and support the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to implement the electoral reforms, particularly i-voting for expatriates the deployment of EVMs in polls.

He expressed the hope that i-voting and EVMs would greatly help promote transparency and ensure the credibility of the electoral process in the country.

The Ministry of Science and Technology briefed the meeting that they were actively working on designing the prototype EVM as per existing specifications provided by the stakeholders.

It is to be noted that the government has continued its rapid transition towards an electronic voting system despite strong reservations by the opposition parties and the election commission. Earlier this year, Fawad Chaudhary had stated that the Election commission would get e-voting technology soon. At the same time, the IT minister had also expressed optimism that Pakistan’s next election will have E-voting.

Source: APP