NewsMay 27 , 2022
Overseas Pakistanis Deprived of Right to Vote, NA Decides against Use of EVMs
By Fahad Chaudhry
Islamabad: The National Assembly of Pakistan passed the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022 on Thursday, which seeks to remove the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in general elections as well as disallows overseas Pakistanis from voting.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi presented the bill that was passed with a majority vote, with only members of the Grand Democratic Alliance opposing it.
Before presenting the bill, Abbasi presented a motion for allowing the bill to be sent directly to the Senate for its approval, bypassing the relevant standing committee. The motion was also passed by the NA with a majority vote.
Speaking about the legislation, Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said it was of immense significance. He recalled the previous PTI government had made multiple amendments to the Election Act, 2017, including those that allowed the use of EVMs and granted overseas Pakistanis the right to vote in general elections.
The PTI government had made the amendments through the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021, which it had bulldozed through the NA along with 32 other legislations on November 17, 2021.
Tarar said the bill presented in the day sought to revive the Elections Act, 2017 in the shape prior to those amendments, which would ensure free, fair, and transparent elections.
Under the new bill, two amendments were being made to Sections 94 and 103 of the Act, both of which pertain to the ECP conducting pilot projects for overseas voting and the use of EVMs.
Amendments
- Under the amendment in Section 94 of the Election Act, 2017, the ECP may conduct pilot projects for voting by overseas Pakistanis in by-elections to ascertain the technical efficacy, secrecy, security, and financial feasibility of such voting and shall share the results with the government, which shall, within 15 days from the commencement of a session of a house after the receipt of the report, lay the same before both houses of parliament.
- Under the amendment in Section 103 of the Election Act, 2017, the ECP may conduct pilot projects for the utilization of EVMs and biometric verification system in the by-elections.
- The law minister said the Election Commission of Pakistan had also raised objections to the use of EVMs but clarified that the government was not against the use of technology.
"We only have concerns about the misuse of technology as the Results Transmission System had failed in last general elections to favor a particular political party," he said.
He also dispelled the impression that the amendments were aimed at depriving overseas Pakistanis of their right to vote.
"Overseas Pakistanis are a precious asset of the country and the government does not believe in snatching their right to vote," he said… Dawn
Courtesy https://www.dawn.com
Back to Pakistanlink Home