ISLAMBAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has requested monies from the government so that electronic voting machines (EVMs) may be mass produced in preparation for the forthcoming general elections in 2023.
For the 2019 general elections, at least 800,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be mass built. ECP will need a substantial sum of money in order to continue. A storage for the 800,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs) was also requested by the ECP in a letter to the federal government.
“The ECP is working to ensure that the necessary infrastructure for the elections is in place and that the whole process can be monitored without difficulties. ECP has asked the government to disburse funding for infrastructure development as soon as feasible, in order to expedite the process “The letter said that
The government has decided to consult with the ECP over the use of electronic voting machines.
Fawad Chaudhry, the Minister of Information, had said earlier this week that the federal cabinet had constituted a ministerial committee to coordinate with the ECP in order to guarantee that the newly enacted law on electoral reforms was put into effect.
At a news conference after the cabinet meeting, the information minister said that the next general elections will “certainly” be conducted using electronic voting machines and that Pakistanis living abroad would be permitted to vote.
Chaudhry announced the creation of a ministerial committee, which would include Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Babar Awan, Railways Minister Azam Swati, Science and Technology Minister Shibli Faraz, Information Technology Minister Aminul Haq, and Attorney-General Khalid Jawed Khan.
The committee, the minister went on to say, would work in conjunction with the ECP to ensure that the newly enacted legislation is implemented. He went on to say that the committee will finalise all of the details around the use of electronic voting machines in the next election, including the cost, number of devices, and other factors.
Electoral Commission of Pakistan Secretary Omar Hamid Khan had previously informed parliamentarians that it had taken India 20 years and Brazil 22 years to begin utilising these devices, and that it would likewise take them “a while” to get them up and running.
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