ECP fails to satisfy panel on voting machines

Says there is no mechanism which is 100% foolproof

ISLAMABAD: The poll supervisory body on Monday failed to placate a parliamentary panel on electoral reforms on solutions to deal with possible maneuvering in electronic voting machines (EVM) systems.

Facing criticism from political parties for its failure to conduct last year’s general elections transparently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to introduce EVMs in two years and use them in the 2018 polls.

An eight-member sub-committee of the parliamentary panel on electoral reforms received a demo of sample machines from three vendors — two government organisations and a private manufacturer.

During the in-camera meeting on Monday, the poll body briefed the committee about advantages and disadvantages of deploying EVMs for the next general elections.



The sub-committee, led by Science and Technology Minister Zahid Hamid was told that no mechanism was 100% fool-proof. ECP claimed that use of EVMs does not reduce the chances of rigging. .

Subsequently, the committee was informed that an EVM, with built-in biometric voter verification system, would cost between Rs60,000 and Rs70,000 each with the ECP requiring around 275,000 such machines.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2014.