Daily Times

The electronic voting machine (EVM) can open up the possibility of “more sophisticated fraud” through the manipulation of software and hardware, the ECP said in a 34-point letter sent to Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs Taj Haider on Friday. The ECP stated that it endorses the introduction of new technologies in the electoral process but has concerns about the process being pushed in ‘haste’. “The Commission, while in favor of technology, believes that the technology to be used must be secured and sufficiently tested,” the letter argued, adding that the EVM should be subject to massive testing by procuring the machine on a small scale for a pilot project first. “EVMs are presented as a solution to rigging in the elections, but they cannot counter all types of fraud,” the ECP said. “There would be a lack of evidence in case of election disputes, as it underscored that the compatibility of EVMs with the existing constitutional and legal framework should be considered. Many more amendments are required as still many sections are relevant to only physical voting. This needs further deliberations,” the ECP told the standing committee’s chairman. The election commission further pointed out that voting machines were not the answer to rigging as they could not stop electoral frauds and other issues that arise during polling. “The machine cannot prevent issues and electoral frauds like booth capturing, low women voters’ turnout, misuse of state authorities, electronic ballot stuffing, vote buying, law and order situation, dishonest polling staff, widespread political and electoral violence, and abuse of state resources by incumbent parties,” the letter said. On the financial front, the election commission said the system would be very costly, as there are approximately 100,000 polling stations and 400,000 polling booths. The ECP estimated that as many as 900,000 machines would be required, if separate machines were used for National Assembly and provincial assembly elections. “Keeping in view the initial investment and ongoing costs, including storage cost and hiring and training of staff and other expenditures, this system will cost approximately Rs150 billion,” the ECP said. Moving further, the election commission said the most important advantage of EVM usually mentioned is instantaneous results. “If eight or four machines are used in a polling station, as the case may be, then each machine will give instantaneous results but these will first be consolidated at the polling station and then this consolidated result will be communicated to Returning Officer (RO) either physically or through WhatsApp if internet is available,” the ECP said. The ECP said another argument used in favour of EVMs is that they will eliminate the rejected votes. “It is true, but we have to see as to how many constituencies are affected by rejected votes as far as winning or losing is concerned.”