Shibli defends EVMs as ‘best’ solution to rigging

Minister says EVMs could not be hacked as they are not connected to internet, Bluetooth or WiFi

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz on Wednesday hailed Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) as the best solution to rigging in elections.

"The use of EVM in the elections will help prevent vote-rigging and eliminate mistrust of the candidates over the polling as well as results compilation process", Shibli Faraz assured, addressing a media briefing at Parliament House in Islamabad, where the government had scheduled a demonstration of EVMs for lawmakers.

He said that the whole world was adopting modern technology and “it was the accurate time to switch to this technology in order to make the election process transparent”.

While explaining the “effective and user-friendly features” of the EVMs, Shibli Faraz observed that around 184 million people in the country used mobile phones and there were 120 million registered voters. Therefore, the introduction of electronic voting would not be an alien thing for people.

He explained that the EVMs could not be hacked or vitiated by bugs because they were not connected to the internet, dependent on mechanisms such as Bluetooth, WiFi or an operating system.

Read: Govt, opposition poles apart on EVM

“It is very unfortunate that the elections in the past were become controversial due to the lack of technology. EVM is the best solution to curb electoral fraud and irregularities", he emphasized.

Shibli said it was up to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to decide whether the machines fulfilled the requirements. He said that the ECP was the only constitutional institution that could approve or reject them.

"We are coordinating with the ECP. Before or immediately after Muharram we will demonstrate EVMs to the ECP, obviously, it's the biggest stakeholder," he said.

On the occasion, the federal minister also invited Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser and other parliamentarians to test the features of EVM by casting a mock vote.

The parliamentarians witnessed the practical demonstration by casting vote up to the issuance of the results.

Later, Asad Qaiser took to Twitter and said that technological advancements were "pivotal" to ensure transparency in the electoral process and strengthen democracy in the country.