Thumbprint verification: Caretaker PM orders release of Rs90m for NADRA

According to Khoso, the system will be ready in ten days and thumbprints will be verified.


Web Desk May 21, 2013
Caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: The caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso ordered the release of Rs90m to NADRA for purchasing software to match thumbprints of voters, reported Express News on Tuesday.

According to Khoso, the system will be ready in 10 days and thumbprints will be verified.

The Election Commission of Pakistan announced on Monday that, for the first time ever, votes will be verified by matching thumbprints with the National Database and Regulatory Authority’s database, despite the absence of any provision in electoral laws for this purpose.

ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan and Chairman Nadra Tariq Malik jointly announced the decision.

Sources told The Express Tribune that Nadra had sent several letters to the ECP asking whether the commission wanted it to verify votes through thumbprints but there was no reply.

It had sent the first letter on June 19, 2012 and then on March 13, 2013 but there was no reply from the commission, sources added.

Now that the elections are over, that response has finally come.

COMMENTS (15)

Usman Masood | 10 years ago | Reply

Do people here not understand that "elections" are pretty much the entire foundations of a democratic system.

If the people who vote do not hold the power, and the people who count the votes have all of it. We are better of with martial law. If you want this country to progress, the first step is ensuring that no one ever tries to rig an election.

By taking strict punitive actions against the transgressors. We can hopefully send a message to anyone thinking of rigging elections. And that is when Pakistan can finally prosper.

In Every third-world "democratic" country. The voting process is more or less a sham.

If only the caretaker govt had accepted ECPs demand to put army jawans at every polling station. Elections would've been far more clean!

And lastly, I hope we switch to electronic voting. We have five years to get there!

Muhammad Sajid | 10 years ago | Reply

That's about $900,000 for technology that is getting built in only 10 days. Are you kidding me ? I can do the same thing for $50,000 with no problem. I am sure that a good chunk of this money will be found in Swiss Bank soon...

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