Next elections through e-voting machines: ECP
01 October, 2014
ISLAMABAD: In an attempt to place curbs on rigging, the Election Commission of Pakistan has decided to use electronic voter machines in the next general elections, under its planned electoral reforms.
According to the ECP, the decision to use electronic voting machine has been made to ensure transparency in the next elections. In this regard, the election commission has contacted 11 companies dealing in biometric and electronic voting machines.
The companies will give demo of their working/use of machines. The ECP will shortlist a single company to hire its service for the electoral process later on. In a media briefing, Election Commission Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed said that the elections cannot be held using the electronic machines before September 2016.
He said that at least two years would be required to install electronic voting machines across the country. The ECP secretary urged the government to complete the process of legislation before December 31, 2014. He said that pilot projects would begin in six months if legislation was done in three months. The Election Commission of Pakistan has decided not to depend on NADRA for biometric system and electronic voting in the next elections.
Interim Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan (CECP) Justice Anwar Zaheer has said that storage houses will be made at central and provincial offices of ECP for keeping of record of elections. At a meeting of the ECP under the headship of the Interim CEC in Islamabad it was decided that the commission will not rely on NADRA for e-voting and biometric system.
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