ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to help verify votes by matching thumbprints with its database, said ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed on Monday.
Ahmed was addressing a press conference in Islamabad along with NADRA chairman Tariq Malik.
Malik, while speaking to media, said the database authority currently does not have the system to verify the huge amount of thumbprints. However, he said that it will achieve the ability to do so in two weeks time.
He further added that thumbprints can only be verified if a certain type of ink – earlier specified to the ECP – was used.
Explaining the tedious process of thumbprint verification, Malik said that each thumb impression will be manually verified.
He said the cost of verification will be shared by the interim government and the electoral candidates.
The ECP secretary added that with the required system improvement in place, NADRA will be able to verify 500,000 votes per day.
COMMENTS (15)
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NADRA cannot print the urgent and ordinary passport as there is a backlog of 8,00,000 passports which are expected to be laminated by the end of June 2013, how can NADRA will verify if the thumb impression on the voter's list is genuine or fake?
By the time NADRA will submit its reports, the legislators would have taken oath and their 5 year term will also expire.
I would request NADRA not to make such jokes which are far from imagination.
Every one in Pakistan knows how efficient NADRA is in Pakistan, for local Pakistanis, as well as for overseas Pakistanis.
Just do it.. It would bring about credibility.Set a threshold; any thing more than 3% mismatch (this could be due to fuzzy finger print etc) should be reported polling station wise Start from port city of Karachi which is urban center and largest city of Pakistan
All this show should have been before not weeks after the elecion. Even if EC finds bogus or duplicate votes they would not throw anybody in jial or punish. Country does not have enough jails to put all criminals in. The bogus voting and rigging has been in our national character and not confined to one candidate or party. All this storm in a tea cup would die down after PTI's seats are increased and brought it to the second place a moral victory of sorts.
They could just do this for all casted votes. It is what should've been done in the first place.
Fake votes are going to be the fake degrees of this parliament and the swiss letter of Nawaz Sharif. They will do nothing else with this. So do not cheer up PTI.
Assuming you can identify duplicate thumbprints - how about tossing the person who belongs to that thumbprint in jail.
What I see is re-election in Karachi. Things are moving fast.
Lets assume NADRA can verify thumb impressions, what is the guarantee they can void duplicate votes or voters not belonging to a specific polling station? Rigging has been done at very high level and we need a sophisticated system to detect fraudulent votes..
Commendable effort ECP .... but seriously what will happen next .... are we gonna have re-poll on all polling station where there will be (say) 10% votes proved rigged???
I just applied for my daughter's NICOP at Pakistan consulate Dammam. The thumb print is just a joke, nothing scientific about it. Forget it guys, NADRA is just bluffing when it says it can identify someone from their fingerprint.
Applaud. ECP needs appreciation. good work done. it is imperative to understand that it would not make the system 100% transparent but it would definitely help to clean quite an amount of dirt from pigsty. These steps must not be taken as small steps but indeed they are making a road way for free and fair elections of future in times to come.
Some of political arm-twisting in the pipeline, are Sharifs flying too high & against the pre-determined plans?
It is brilliant work,,,,,,abhe dodh ka dodh pani ka pani ho jaye ga ,,,,,,
Excellent !!!
But who would provide the guarantee that the vote already casted would not be changed or forged ????