Alvi says use of EVMs could’ve averted election uncertainty

President says ‘if we find ourselves in a hole, wisdom says, ask for Allah’s help and at least, let’s stop digging’

Taking to microblogging platform "X" (formerly Twitter), President of Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader, Dr Arif Alvi, on Saturday lamented the absence of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the recent elections, stating that their implementation could have averted the current crisis.

President Alvi reminisced about the prolonged struggle for EVMs, emphasising their capability to provide quick and transparent results. In his post, he highlighted that EVMs would have allowed for the separate manual counting of paper ballots, while also featuring an electronic calculator/counter for each vote button pressed.

Remember 'our' long struggle for Electronic Voting Machines. EVM had paper ballots that could be counted separately by hand (like it is being done today) BUT it also had a simple electronic calculator/counter of each vote button pressed. Totals of every candidate would have been…

— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) February 10, 2024

According to him, this would have enabled the swift availability and printing of totals for every candidate within five minutes of the poll's closing.

He expressed disappointment over the thwarting of the extensive effort, which involved over 50 meetings at the Presidency alone, to introduce EVMs. President Alvi asserted that had the electronic voting system been in place, Pakistan could have been spared the current crisis surrounding delayed and uncertain election results.

Read also: ECP failed to hold fair elections: JI

In a separate post, President Alvi invoked wisdom in the face of adversity, suggesting that if one finds themselves in a hole, it is prudent to seek Allah's help and, at the very least, stop digging.

If we find ourselves in a hole, wisdom says, ask for Allah’s help and at least, lets stop digging.

— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) February 9, 2024

The president's remarks came against the backdrop of a post-election scenario where a clear victor remained elusive, and independent candidates supported by PTI maintained numerical superiority over mainstream parties. The delayed announcement of results, attributed by the government to the suspension of mobile phone services, kept the nation on edge for nearly 24 hours.

The piecemeal release of election results contributed to heightened uncertainty, sparking speculations and causing alarm among the public.