Safe and secure elections

People could vote for candidates by selecting desired options on SMS or call in a process taking less than 5 minutes.

One of the primary reasons that Pakistan has a low voter turnout is because we still vote as if we are living in the early 1900s. On election day, there is the hassle of taking out precious time, finding and making your way to your polling station, waiting in line and then voting on a piece of paper — an average citizen is bound to spend several hours for casting a vote. To top it off, billions of rupees will be wasted by our poor country in carrying out a nationwide election; money that could have been spent on the people themselves. This hassle results in many Pakistanis not exercising their right to vote. That and the rising disbelief in the democratic process leads to a very poor voter turnout. In the 2008 general elections, voter turnout across Pakistan was a meagre 44 per cent. For comparison, in 2008, Bangladesh had an 87 per cent voter turnout in its parliamentary elections.

Today, you can send a SMS to ‘8300’ with your CNIC number and get details of whether you are registered to vote and where. Imagine if the entire process of casting a vote could also be completed in a few minutes without leaving one’s home. This technology is available and is as easy as making a phone call or sending a SMS. Recently, a political party held their intra-party elections in Islamabad and voting was done by calling a UAN number, punching in one’s CNIC number and selecting the candidate of choice. It is time we extended this technology to the common voters in the upcoming countrywide elections.

There are approximately 120 million adults in the country — i.e., potential voters. Of these, about 90 million have NADRA CNICs issued, so NADRA has the details of all these people. As per the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), there are nearly 120 million mobile phone SIMs in Pakistan and approximately 75 million mobile phone users with some people carrying multiple SIMs. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and NADRA should jointly implement a system where people register their CNIC and voting area. NADRA could verify these customers with the data it has. Then, on election day, Pakistanis could vote either by sending a SMS or by dialling a UAN number. When the system receives the CNIC number, it should automatically check if the CNIC is valid, if the voter is registered and then look up the voting area before presenting the individual with a list of candidates/parties to vote for. The individual could choose the candidate/party by selecting the desired options over SMS or on phone call. The entire process would take less than five minutes.

This new system would be made incredibly secure as the CNIC number could be matched with the mobile phone SIM ownership records with the PTA. Multiple entries from different mobile phones using the same CNIC number could be thwarted by allowing only one entry per CNIC number. This would also help out the Interior Ministry with its problem of unregistered SIMs, as people would rationally attempt to ensure SIM ownership on their CNIC.

The SMS and UAN services for election purposes should be absolutely free to minimise all barriers. In rural areas, PCOs should be used by people who do not have mobile phones. The ECP could focus its entire marketing efforts around promoting the new system. Those who do not own a mobile phone, especially rural females, could be allowed to vote using their father/son/husband’s mobile phone and NADRA records could link family members.

The SMS messages could be in English, Urdu or Roman Urdu. For those who cannot read or write, the UAN number could run a multilingual automated voice system, like when you call a bank or a mobile phone company helpline. This system could be accessed by people living in every corner of Pakistan, as well as Pakistanis living abroad who simply place an international call back home with their CNIC in hand and vote.

This system can be set up in less than a month. Providing a convenient, hassle-free voting solution for all Pakistanis is the responsibility of the ECP and other relevant organs of the state. By implementing a cost-effective, transparent and efficient solution, both the ECP and NADRA would stand out in the entire world for their use of technology for Pakistan. With this simple and secure voting system, more people will start exercising their basic right to vote, thereby helping to advance democracy in our country.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2012.