The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that it will not be pressured by the government into holding elections through Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)’s and will only do so after it is fully satisfied with the reliability of the system.
Geo News reported that according to a source within the commission, the ECP is working to make sure that the law passed by parliament is implemented but it would take all precautionary measures to ensure impartiality.
The source further revealed that the ECP had constituted three different committees to look into all aspects of the process. One of the committees, headed by the ECP secretary, is looking at all the broad issues related to shifting to the new system along with studying models from countries with similar systems to identify which best suits Pakistan.
Another Committee is looking into the financial cost of the entire operation while the last is working on recommended changes in-laws needed to shift to electronic voting.
It was also reported that the government is pressuring the ECP to purchase the EVM’s from a Dubai-based firm, but the commission is resisting the pressure while maintaining that the bidding process will be followed for purchasing the machines.
If the next election is conducted via EVM’s, it will be the biggest electronic voting exercise in the world with 120 million voters expected to participate.
