Deepening controversy: No details of magnetic ink in ECP record, says officials
NADRA says ink used in 2013 polls was not the one it prescribed; PCSIR refutes charge
ISLAMABAD:
Controversy over the ink used in the May 2013 general elections deepened further after Friday’s meeting at the headquarters of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
As the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Pakistan Council of Scientific Research (PCSIR) continued to shift blame, the electoral body failed to find any details regarding the selection and constitution of ink used in in last year’s polls.
The ECP had called the meeting to prepare a fact sheet on allegations of poll rigging. All departments, whose role in the electoral process has come under question, were called to attend it.
During the huddle, PCSIR representatives claimed the ink they provided for the polls was the same one approved by NADRA and ordered by the ECP, sources said. NADRA – which in an affidavit to a Lahore election tribunal claimed the ink used in the polls was not the one it prescribed – denied the charge, prompting a hot debate.
When the commission looked into its record, it found no documentation regarding the procurement of the ink.
“No record was available with the ECP. No one knows who ordered and approved the magnetic ink, and there are no details about its specification and ingredients as well,” a source quoted ECP officials as saying in the meeting.
Some of the officials accused then additional secretary Afzal Khan, who retired just after the 2013 polls, and claimed he had issued verbal orders to PCSIR for the ink’s procurement, sources said.
When contacted, Afzal denied the accusation. “Those who know how government offices work know there is no way it is possible. It is not allowed under Pepra rules,” he said. “It was a Rs90 million project, not the purchase of a pencil box.”
According to Afzal, any official procurement has to go through several stages before final approval by higher authorities. “I was an administrative authority working under the chief accounting officer, the secretary. But we cannot do anything without adopting the proper procedure” he said.
He accused “certain people within the ECP” of trying to malign him by levelling unsubstantiated} allegations. He also said there was no truth to NADRA’s claim that it many thumb impressions were unreadable and claimed the authority was not being allowed to work in this regard.
In a TV interview last month, Afzal had accused the ECP of involvement in rigging.
The ECP had tasked PCSIR with preparing a magnetic ink to record the thumb impressions of voters, ahead of the 2013 elections. The ink was supposed to make it easier for NADRA to biometrically verify each vote. Before the polls, ECP proudly claimed it would be able to verify each vote in case of controversy.
In the 16 months since the elections, tribunals have sent cases from over three dozen constituencies to NADRA for vote verification. For most of the constituencies, NADRA has reported that thumb impressions on roughly 75% of the votes cannot be read.
At a news conference held after Friday’s meeting, ECP officials downplayed the magnetic ink, saying that it was prepared as an ‘additional measure’. They maintained only a CNIC was required to verify voters’ identities under the law.
Explaining why it was difficult to verify votes, Director General (Elections) Malik Masood said, “Ridges on people’s thumbs and fingers tend to fade, especially when a person is involved in manual labour.”
“Since biometric data available with NADRA is ten years old in many cases, it is impossible to tally thumb impressions,” he added.
ECP officials, however, failed to provide any satisfactory answer as to why Rs100 million was spent on a project which they knew had no legal value and would be unable to provide results.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2014.
Controversy over the ink used in the May 2013 general elections deepened further after Friday’s meeting at the headquarters of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
As the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Pakistan Council of Scientific Research (PCSIR) continued to shift blame, the electoral body failed to find any details regarding the selection and constitution of ink used in in last year’s polls.
The ECP had called the meeting to prepare a fact sheet on allegations of poll rigging. All departments, whose role in the electoral process has come under question, were called to attend it.
During the huddle, PCSIR representatives claimed the ink they provided for the polls was the same one approved by NADRA and ordered by the ECP, sources said. NADRA – which in an affidavit to a Lahore election tribunal claimed the ink used in the polls was not the one it prescribed – denied the charge, prompting a hot debate.
When the commission looked into its record, it found no documentation regarding the procurement of the ink.
“No record was available with the ECP. No one knows who ordered and approved the magnetic ink, and there are no details about its specification and ingredients as well,” a source quoted ECP officials as saying in the meeting.
Some of the officials accused then additional secretary Afzal Khan, who retired just after the 2013 polls, and claimed he had issued verbal orders to PCSIR for the ink’s procurement, sources said.
When contacted, Afzal denied the accusation. “Those who know how government offices work know there is no way it is possible. It is not allowed under Pepra rules,” he said. “It was a Rs90 million project, not the purchase of a pencil box.”
According to Afzal, any official procurement has to go through several stages before final approval by higher authorities. “I was an administrative authority working under the chief accounting officer, the secretary. But we cannot do anything without adopting the proper procedure” he said.
He accused “certain people within the ECP” of trying to malign him by levelling unsubstantiated} allegations. He also said there was no truth to NADRA’s claim that it many thumb impressions were unreadable and claimed the authority was not being allowed to work in this regard.
In a TV interview last month, Afzal had accused the ECP of involvement in rigging.
The ECP had tasked PCSIR with preparing a magnetic ink to record the thumb impressions of voters, ahead of the 2013 elections. The ink was supposed to make it easier for NADRA to biometrically verify each vote. Before the polls, ECP proudly claimed it would be able to verify each vote in case of controversy.
In the 16 months since the elections, tribunals have sent cases from over three dozen constituencies to NADRA for vote verification. For most of the constituencies, NADRA has reported that thumb impressions on roughly 75% of the votes cannot be read.
At a news conference held after Friday’s meeting, ECP officials downplayed the magnetic ink, saying that it was prepared as an ‘additional measure’. They maintained only a CNIC was required to verify voters’ identities under the law.
Explaining why it was difficult to verify votes, Director General (Elections) Malik Masood said, “Ridges on people’s thumbs and fingers tend to fade, especially when a person is involved in manual labour.”
“Since biometric data available with NADRA is ten years old in many cases, it is impossible to tally thumb impressions,” he added.
ECP officials, however, failed to provide any satisfactory answer as to why Rs100 million was spent on a project which they knew had no legal value and would be unable to provide results.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2014.