Daily Times

For the last over four decades, the conduct of fair, free and impartial parliamentary elections has been a big challenge in Pakistan. It has never happened since 1980 that the losing political parties and individuals did not level charges of election manipulation and rigging against the winning parties and individual contestants. In some elections, serious conflicts started even from the first day of formation of a new government, over alleged election rigging. Therefore, the newly formed governments had to divert their energies towards protecting themselves from the opposition attacks, instead of focusing on public service and development programmes.

This phenomenon is not peculiar to Pakistan; in most developing countries, the governments had to face similar situations i.e. allegations of election rigging and stealing of mandate of the opponent parties soon after the conduct of the general elections. Even in some developed countries, such allegations keep surfacing from time to time, and the latest examples in that regard could be presented of the last two elections in the USA.

The departments and authorities responsible for the conduct of elections in all countries, where parliamentary form of the government is in place, have always been in search of mechanisms and arrangements through which they could conduct elections acceptable to even the losing parties. The use of technology in this regard has proved a great help during the past years. The electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the internet-voting (i-voting) are among the top technology applications, which have provided solutions to the modern-day election complications and helped guard against the election rigging allegations in various countries of the world.

Various digital indicators and surveys show that the number of internet users across the globe has more than tripled during a decade, from one billion in 2005 to an estimated 3.2 billion at the end of 2015. And similarly, onward, in January 2021, there were 4.66 billion active internet users globally which is 59.5 percent of the total global population. Of the total 4.32 billion, around 92.6 percent of the population has accessed the internet service through mobile-phones.

Talking to APP noted IT expert Muhammad Zahid said that the digital revolution has brought quick private benefits, greater convenience, easier communication and information, free digital products, and new forms of excitement and leisure.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, especially Prime Minister Imran Khan, has decided to benefit from the modern technology to resolve the decades old issue of transparency of elections. The prime minister, as he mentions in his public speeches time and again, is the person who had introduced the neutral umpires when he was leading the Pakistan cricket team. Through the use of neutral umpires, the issue of biased decisions by umpires and consequent controversies was resolved once and for all. And now, through the use of technology, the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and i-voting for overseas Pakistanis he has planned to resolve the issue of election day rigging on a permanent basis.

Prime Minister Khan values overseas Pakistanis a lot and appreciates their contribution to the national exchequer in the form of valuable foreign exchange from the core of his heart. According to the Bureau of Statistics document, over nine million overseas Pakistanis are working in different countries across the globe. They are playing a great role in keeping the country’s economy afloat through continuous remittances. Their remittances had witnessed a record high growth especially in the last over one year. Prime Minister Imran Khan has recently launched two digital incentives for Pakistani expatriates, including Roshan Apni Car (car financing) and Roshan Samaji Khidmat (charity).

Keeping in view their services for the country, the prime minister has also decided to give the expatriates the right to vote in Pakistan by bringing about electoral reforms in the country. While chairing a meeting on the use of EVMs, he recently directed the authorities concerned to complete the electoral reforms process, and provide the electronic voting system for the overseas Pakistanis, at the earliest. He said the only option to ensure transparency in the election process was the use of EVMs and the overseas Pakistanis must be made part of the polling process through i-voting, which was their undeniable right. He was given a detailed briefing on the work done so far regarding the use of electronic voting machines, and the preparation made for legislation regarding introduction of electoral reforms.

Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) official sources told APP that EVMs were being used in many developed countries currently, which were helpful in ensuring transparency and fast compilation of election results. These machines are being used in neighboring countries India, Australia, Switzerland, Brazil, Belgium, France, Germany, Norway, Netherlands, Namibia United Kingdom (UK), Estonia, Italy, Peru, Venezuela and the Philippines.

Meanwhile Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, during a media briefing, recently said that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were being developed in the country, adding that these machines would also be used in elections of the press clubs, Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA) and the Bar associations.