The National Assembly of Pakistan has passed the Election Amendment Bill, 2022, to revoke the voting rights of overseas Pakistanis and prevent the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in general elections.
In Pakistan, the National Assembly voted on Thursday to repeal the election reforms introduced by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, which gave foreigners access to electronic voting machines (EVMs) and I-Voting.
Only the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) members voted against the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022 proposed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi.
Abbasi proposed the move before submitting the measure so that the law could be referred to the Senate without going through the relevant standing committee.
According to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, the Senate will consider the bill on Friday. Deputy Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) called the bill “extremely significant,” pointing out that the ousted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had amended the Election Act, 2017, allowing the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and giving overseas Pakistanis the right to vote in general elections.
The PTI administration enacted the revisions through the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021, which rammed through the National Assembly with 32 other bills on November 17, last year, according to Tarar.
In addition, the minister stated that Thursday’s measure aims to restore the Elections Act of 2017 to its original form, ensuring free, fair, and transparent elections. It is expected that the new bill will make two amendments to Sections 94 and 103 of the statute, both of which deal with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) undertaking pilot projects for overseas voting and the use of electronic voting machines.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had also expressed its inability to hold elections using I-Voting and EVMs in a short period without proper preparations.
The amendment under Section 94 of the Election Act, 2017 suggests the ECP may conduct pilot projects for overseas Pakistanis voting in by-elections to assess the effectiveness, secrecy, security, and financial feasibility of such voting and share the results with the government.
Both Houses of Parliament would receive the report within 15 days of the beginning of their respective sessions. According to the law minister, Pakistan’s Election Commission also objected to the use of EVMs.
Although he clarified that the government was not against the use of the technology, holding elections using EVMs on a single day was “impossible”. “We only have concerns about the misuse of technology as the results transmission system has failed in the last general elections to favour a particular political party,” he said.
Moreover, he dispelled the impression that the amendments were intended to deny overseas Pakistanis the right to vote. “Overseas Pakistanis are a precious asset to the country, and the government does not believe in snatching their right to vote,” he said.
PTI has strongly criticised the move and dubbed it “regressive and condemnable” on the part of PML-N leader Shehbaz Sherif’s government. PTI vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted: “PTI gave over nine million overseas Pakistanis the right to vote.” Today, this band of thieves and thugs removed it, disenfranchising a staggering number of Pakistanis and barring the use of electronic voting machines. “
https://twitter.com/SMQureshiPTI/status/1529766951291084800
The GDA’s Ghous Bakhsh Mehr, on the other hand, said that EVMs are used around the world, and Pakistan should at least try using them. “If not the whole country, then use them in some areas,” he said.
Details about the subsequent general election expenses were shared during the National Assembly session. It is estimated that fresh elections will cost Rs 47.41 billion, about 15 billion going towards security.
According to the election commission, electronic voting is estimated to cost Rs 5.6 billion, while printing ballot papers will cost Rs 4.83 billion. In addition, Rs 1.79 billion will be spent on training polling staff.
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