ISLAMABAD: The electronic voting machine has now replaced the traditional mechanism of voting in several countries of the world due to several advantages it provides, like security and automatic counting. It can also make the voting process in Pakistan free and fair.
After the election results, the current scenario of the country tells us that almost all political parties have reservations about some of the results. If the electronic voting system is introduced in the future, it will be easier for all political parties to accept election results, as the chances of rigging and other mistakes occurring will be highly minimised. This system will also satisfy the voters.
After the general elections of 2013, some evidence has emerged that indicates that some level of rigging did take place in some polling stations, which puts a question mark on the claim that these elections were completely free and fair. Different countries have adopted the electronic voting system, with Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, India, Italy and Kazakhstan being some of the examples. It is time that Pakistan also took serious steps towards the adoption of this system.
Naushaba Abid
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2013.
