Editorial

Voting from far away

Given desire of Pakistanis living overseas to vote, we must hope ECP, NADRA, govt can make this possible.

Editorial April 27, 2013

The DG ECP said the chief election commissioner CEC and other members of the commission had decided not to put in practice the e-voting mechanism for the 4.5 million oversees Pakistanis. DESIGN: EMA ANIS

Enthusiasm for balloting may be suffering at home due to the spate of violence that we have seen — with fears this may lead to a low voter turnout. But many of the nearly five million Pakistanis based overseas and eligible to vote seem determined to do so. Notably from the UK, supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are planning to charter flights home for election day, if this is what it takes to put that slip of paper into the box. They have made it clear that supporters of other parties are welcome to come along too and hop aboard the flights.

But, of course, all this is expensive and not possible for everyone. We must, therefore, hope plans to organise balloting at missions overseas, as the Supreme Court has ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to do, can move ahead smoothly. Encouragingly for Pakistan, eight key countries have already given the go-ahead for Pakistanis based there to ballot. According to the Foreign Office spokesman at his weekly briefing, they include the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. The largest number of Pakistani nationals, over three million in total, are based in the Middle East. It is hoped that other countries will follow in approving the move. NADRA has stated that it has worked out a software programme to enable voting and arrangements to send across required staff are being made.

However, there are complications. The caretaker government’s information and technology minister has told the Supreme Court that using untested software could be problematic. Other logistical issues have also been raised. These are legitimate concerns. Overseas ballots have led to problematic situations in other countries, too. However, given the obvious desire of Pakistanis living overseas to make their voices heard as the future of their nation is decided, we must hope that the ECP, NADRA and the government can work together to make this possible. While the time period is short, in this age of technology, it should be possible to work out a means to enable those based far away to have a say in the elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2013.

COMMENTS (2)

Mirza | 11 years ago | Reply

While the trrorists ahve not allowed the three main liberal parties to run their campaign in Pakistan and are killing them every day we are talking about the rights of overseas Pakistanis? How about the fundamental rights of ANP, MQM and PPP to run their campaign without fear and deaths on level playing field? First take care of the problems and genocide of Pakistanis at the hands of terrorists and hijacking of elections for the rightwing parties then the caretakers, EC and SC should worry about overseas Pakistanis who are living in much better conditions.

Parvez Amin | 11 years ago | Reply

Voting by phone is perfectly possible. A Electronic Voting Authority (EVA) should be setup. EVA will create its database using the information already available on the NADRA, ECP and PTA data bases and adding a Personal Voting Number (PVN). Using the PVN a voter at home or abroad can cast his vote on ANY phone - including a landline. Much more detail is available from the head office of Madadgar Pakistan, a registered political party proposing direct rule by the awam.

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