Electronic voting is back in vogue as opposition parties seem more determined than ever to block the use of EVMs in the next election cycle. Meanwhile, the skipper stands firm on his pitch to reclaim the credibility of the vote of millions of Pakistanis. A very noble cause, indeed! Given the shambolic array the recent by-elections (Karachi and Daska) had fallen into, PM Khan is spot-on in his commitment to bring about transparency in the electoral process. Every such race is tainted with accusations of rigging and horse-trading flying left, right and centre. Even the poll for the most august post in the upper house saw the presiding officer destroy not one, not two, but an overwhelming eight ballot papers for breaking rules. What a tragedy! The exemplary journey of computerising land records in Punjab is an iron-clad projection of technology in the administration. If we can weed out greedy patwaris who used to deny the poor their land rights, why can’t we use the same high-tech to purify our assemblies of the same evil dispensations? While magic boxes in our houses may scream so every night, Pakistan is not riddled with political challenges alone. We have the Indian strain of the pandemic ready to pounce through our doors any moment now. If our GSP+ status is withdrawn by the EU, hundreds of thousands of those employed in the textile sector would be rendered jobless in a swish. The endless grey-listing saga, our surging troubles with the IMF and the crippling implications of Mr Biden withdrawing his troops from the war-ravaged Afghanistan; all demand a unified parliament ready to roll out initiatives on a war footing. This is something our divided house can not achieve, under any circumstances. But every policy needs a fresh pair of eyes. No matter how rosy the new automated elections and the ensuing credibility may appear, hopping on the EVM bandwagon is not an easy task. Yes, developing countries, such as Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya and Bangladesh, are actively engaged in electronic technologies, the nub of the matter remains that trailblazers like the US, Germany and Ireland are waging calls for the reversal to paper elections. The most daunting backlash is that in India, a global leader in EVM deployment. Former Congress leader, Navjot Singh Sidhu, is highly confident about the ruling BJP not winning a single seat from Indian Punjab if EVMs are replaced with paper. With the notoriously poor record of falling prey to voter fraud, these machines are not perfect from any angle. Yes, they can tally thousands of votes in a blink of an eye, but the malfunctions cannot be ignored. It is far easier to flip votes, “lose” whole machines and transgress safety protocols. Then again, the skyrocketing transition expenses, deployment of technical personnel and the failed mock exercise (in Peshawar in 2017) all point to numerous pitfalls in the captain’s path. All these might be easy to overcome, but gaining the trust of an opposition, who is in no mood to back down is the hardest nut to crack. We can only hope he gets the roundtable Pakistan desperately needs. After all, a credible democracy is a stepping stone to achieve efficient legislation, a pro-victim justice system and a public-oriented economy. *