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Currently, enough work hasn’t been done to have electronic voting or overseas vote in the next general elections. We all know when Donald Trump won, some named it glitches and some said that Russian hackers had changed the polls. The then Opposition and now the government may spin online voting under operational difficulties. But, the Election reforms by PTI were insincere. There were so many by-poll elections if the PTI was so keen. The election commission may have used Step by step implementation; should have done experimentation and identified loopholes.
The absurd case of EVM
EVM incorporation by PTI Government was a merely cheap publicity stunt. In rural Pakistan, there aren’t any Automated Teller Machines. People do not have basic training. First, ensure better than 50% turnover with ballot votes. If local elections get rigged free then think of implementing it abroad. I think more emphasis is needed to ensure electronic voting machines in Pakistan and the infrastructure needed to support them. If the right system is there, then we can move in direction of having an actual democracy where large-scale rigging can’t occur, which is a fundamental problem we’ve had historically. Forget pre-polled rigging of luring winning candidates into the King’s party.
i-Voting Rights Case Study
The Election Commission of Pakistan in collaboration with NADRA has developed an Online Voting System for Overseas Pakistanis. Using this system, Overseas Pakistanis would cast their vote in their home constituencies as per the Voter’s List from the comfort of their homes using any internet-connected device like a PC, Laptop, SmartPhone, or Tablet.
An Overseas Voter who wishes to use the system must have:-
– A National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistani
– A Machine Readable Passport
– A valid Email Address
Overseas Voters must first register themselves with the Online Voting System in order to cast their vote. Under the ECP’s prescribed criteria, each overseas Pakistani had National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP), Machine Readable Passport (MRP) and whose name was in the voter list for the by-poll in the Lahore constituency for an election that took place on December 13, was eligible for registration as a voter. Only three people got registered.
The lack of interest shown by the Pakistani diaspora living abroad in i-voting has dampened the spirits of the officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) as only three expatriates registered themselves for the upcoming PP-168 by-election in Lahore.
